


The light of my soul

by jenny95k



Series: Inside the Fire [1]
Category: The Originals (TV), The Vampire Diaries (TV), The Vampire Diaries - L. J. Smith
Genre: Cannibalism, Declarations Of Love, Falling In Love, First Love, Friendship/Love, M/M, Murder Family, Murderers, Religious Content, Religious Guilt, Suicide Attempt, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-04
Updated: 2018-08-03
Packaged: 2018-09-28 08:21:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 50
Words: 353,122
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10081280
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jenny95k/pseuds/jenny95k
Summary: Stefan's always been a good boy with a gentle heart. Even after becoming a vampire his heart remained pure and innocent but a tragic even will push him to make a deal with Devil. He had to kill sinners for Cade until he would find a soul to save.Would Stefan find a person to save ? Would his heart remain pure ? Would his soul find the light again ?And in the darkness of its existence... would he find love ?





	1. Hell of a Ride

  
Salvatore family couldn’t be considered particularly religious, especially after the death of Lily Salvatore, but a voice inside of Stefan’s head kept telling him to be a good boy, to go to church every Sunday, to pray for his soul and his bother’s ones too.  
So he did. He went to church, he prayed every night before to fall asleep, he kept a rosary on his bedside table and he was nice and kind with everyone, even when other people were cruel or unkind with him.  
Damon always questioned him why he was so determinate to have faith in God.  
Stefan couldn’t say he had completely faith in God, a lot of things had been found out in that eyes and a lot of things was going to be create, things that probably wouldn’t have nothing to do with religion or faith.  
So… he couldn’t say he was a true believer but he felt the necessity to preserve his soul, or at least he needed to believe in something, he needed to believe that his would reunite with his mother someday, he needed to believe that someone was protecting him from the darkness of the world and from his inner darkness.  
So he prayed, when Katherine arrived in from of his house, beautiful, elegant, with a mischievous smile, ready to drag him into her ocean of darkness, blood and luxury.  
Both Stefan and Damon fell with her. Deeper and deeper in an never ending darkness. She was a vampire, she was a dangerous creature, an unfaithful liar woman who made both of them fell in love with her and then she turned them into vampires, and still Stefan kept to pray for their soul.  
When their father shot them and killed them, Stefan prayed for him to be forgiven.  
Even when he killed his father because he couldn’t control his bloodlust and his hatred for his father took over him, so he killed, and he did it over and over again. He also left his rosary on his bedside table.  
He started to pray again when he met Lexi and he told her about this inner voice inside his head which told him to pray for the safety of his soul, and not without surprise, she seemed to understand him pretty well and she showed him her rosary.  
It was funny that two creatures like them felt the necessity to pray God for their soul. They were killers, monsters, abominations… God had already rejected them but they still hoped for having a place in Paradise.  
So he prayed until he met another young woman, her name was Sybil.  
Stefan and Damon were reunited for a short period, they pumped in each other for a pure coincidence, or at least Stefan used to think so. The doubts arrived more time after but that wasn’t important at the moment. They met her, in a warm autumn day. Stefan and Damon were walking together, talking, trying to avoid any words about Katherine. She was still a painful memory and a painful mark in both their hearts.  
They were walking near a beautiful lake, Sybil was singing a sweet but melancholy song, she had a beautiful voice, beautiful as a mermaid. She was in the lake, playing with water with her fingers, pouring water on her hair, and Damon watched her spellbound. Stefan instead wasn’t fascinated by her, only by her voice. She was a good singer.  
Instead Damon couldn’t take his eyes off her, he as acting like he was… literally attracted, like her voice was a magnetic.

“She’s beautiful…” Damon whispered while he was walking toward her.

Stefan blinked. Damon’s never looked a woman in that way, before and after Katherine, what was happening to him now ? Stefan didn’t like the look on Damon’s face, at all, and he didn’t like the way Damon was walking toward her as he was under hypnosis.  
Why wasn’t the same for Stefan ?  
‘Maybe because I like men… but… Damon usually don’t act like this with women he wants”.

“Damon… maybe… we should go…” said Stefan grabbing his arm.

“I’m not going anywhere. I have to know her name… I need…”

“You what ?” asked Stefan completely stunned.

Who was that guy ? Surely he wasn’t Damon.  
His older brother would have never acted like that for a girl, with a moron look on his face. Especially because Stefan knew he still loved Katherine. The entire situation was insane.  
While Stefan was trying to understand what was going on, the girl stopped to sing and looked toward them.

“Good morning, gentlemen. My song disturb you ?”

God, her voice sounded like Paradise even when she talked. She was wearing a white dress, completely wet which put in evidence her body curves.  
Her body and her eyes radiated lust, desire, sensuality, passion… and danger. A lot of trues and promises were hidden behind that almond eyes, a lot of untold stories Stefan was sure not to want to know about, but Damon…  
Stefan cold see the passion, the need, the desire and the adoration growing up in his eyes. He was looking at the girl as she was a Goddess.

“You’re… a Goddess” said Damon too close to the shore of the lake.

The girl laughed “What’s you name, sir ?”

“I’m Damon”

“I’m Sybil”

“And I want to come back home. Damon, let’s go” said Stefan grabbing Damon’s arm.

But Damon got free of Stefan and he said, almost furious, “Go away, if you want. I stay with this beautiful lady”

“No, you’re coming with me. It could be dangerous”

“Do I look dangerous to you ? I was only singing a song. Don’t you like it ? Don’t you want sing with me ?” asked the girl with an innocent voice.

“He doesn’t want to sing with you. I do. I’m the only thing you need” said Damon full of envy and jealously.

Stefan was surprised. Damon knew that girl for one minute and and was sudden jealous of her.  
Sybil was coming closer to them and even if she was smiling, Stefan could understand that something was bothering her. Maybe the fact that only one of them was looking at her like an idiot. It probably was wounding her ego.  
Stefan couldn’t care less. She was doing something strange to Damon and he wanted to stop it now.

“Damon, we have to go”

“Well, I can come with you sir. I’m only a poor young girl… I don’t want to be left here all alone. Someone could hurt me and I’m defenseless” she said with a false beseeching look.

Everyone could have notices she was just playing, everyone. Except Damon. Who took off his jacket and put it on her shoulder, taking her hand and looked at Stefan, challenging him to stop from taking her with them, to leave her alone in the lake.

“You come with us.”

Then Damon and Sybil started to walk away from Stefan and he followed them behind. Never taking his eyes from them.  
At the end of the day, they had found out that Sybil wasn’t exactly a poor girl.  
She came from a wealthy French family, but she moved in America with her sister after the death of their parents because they felt the necessity to change their lives.  
She was beautiful, intriguing and her voice was the sweetest melody Stefan ever heard. But… something in him told him she was terrible dangerous too, so he stayed away from her.  
He imposed it to himself.  
Damon… on the other hand… fell in love with Sybil quite easily. Not because Damon was naiver than Stefan, or because he didn’t have faith, probably because the pain for Katherine’s reject was still there and he hoped to forget about her with Sybil.  
Stefan tried every strategy to convince Damon to let her go. But every time Stefan tried to take Damon away from her, Sybil found ways to link Damon closer and deeper to her.  
Stefan prayed for Damon, prayed for his brother to forgive him, for leaving Sybil, for be safe but God didn’t listen his prays. Another mystical entity listened his prays.  
The entity that the voices inside of his head were trying to protect from.  
They always said “Be good, Stefan… Be nice, Stefan… Do always the right thing, not matter what… If you do something wrong, repair… If you hurt someone… ask for forgiveness… and everything would be fine”.  
But Stefan didn’t know what destiny had in program for him, he couldn’t predict it at all.  
They were wrong, or he hadn’t been good enough for God.  
But he and his brother had been damned by a demon, named Arcadius, alias “Cade”.  
It happened during a ball, Damon and Sybil were dancing on the dance floor, laughing, whispering sweet words… God, Damon looked so in love with her but Stefan couldn’t trust her.  
Their meeting, the fast, too fast, way Damon fell in love with her… there were a lot strange things, a lot of clues and untold things that Stefan was trying to find out. Unnecessarily, moreover.  
He didn’t know that he was going to have all the answers really sooner.  
Stefan got distracted for just one moment, and it was enough to loosing those two sight. Stefan’s head started to turning, he felt like he was going to have an heart attack. So he started to looked for Damon and Sybil everywhere.  
He looked them in the garden, he went inside a labyrinth and he found Sybil, Damon and another man at the center of it.

“So… this is the one you’re offering to me ?” asked the man looking at Damon with indifference.

“He’s a vampire. He’s stronger than me, faster than me… He’s a perfect killer… and his soul is dark enough to pleasure you. Why not Cade ?” was asking Sybil almost desperate “You asked me a vampire and I obeyed. This is a vampire !!”

The man, Cade, didn’t seem convinced at all of Damon or his skills at killing. Cade didn’t want Damon, he didn’t satisfy him.  
Stefan hated the way Cade was looking at his brother, like he was nothing more than a piece of junk.  
He didn’t know Damon, he didn’t know his value. Stefan did. Damon was important for him, the most important person in his life, for Stefan he had an incommensurable value.  
But maybe it was a fortune that Cade had such a low opinion about Damon’s soul. If he disliked it so much, there were a lot of possibilities that he would let Damon go.

“I gave you all this time and… him… is the best you can propose to me ? He’ll never be enough to be free of our deal” said Cade.

“Then what else can I do ? You asked me a killer and I’m giving you one”

“Look at him, darling. He has a dark soul and even if there’s light inside of him, is not enough to save you. You should have found the soul to save instead of someone else to take your place. Maybe you would have had more luck”

“I’m tired of looking for it. It’s impossible.”

“It isn’t. You’re not good enough even if you had been and Huntress for a long time”

Stefan wasn’t understanding anything of their dialogue. Who was that Cade character ? What kind of deal was bounding Sybil to him ? Why did she need Damon to get free of it ? What did it mean she was an Huntress ? An Huntress of what ?  
He didn’t like them, or their words, he wanted to do something, but he couldn’t move his legs. They were stoned, petrified by fear.  
A part of Stefan knew that it would be a suicide attempt if he dared to attack them.  
He had to figure it out something. If they had done something to Damon, Stefan would have never forgiven himself.

“Listen… may I can… provide you a better soul… accept him and then someone will go to save his soul.”

“But whoever it is… will save Damon not you.” said Cade.

He was clearly tired of Sybil and her chatter, but Sybil was determinate to persuade him to use Damon as bait for another soul and Stefan was starting to understand what soul Sybil was proposing to Cade.  
‘Oh no…’, Stefan though. Things were not going well for him, not if Cade accepted Sybil’s offer.

“The soul you want to propose to me… belongs to the young vampire who followed you and listened our entire conversation ?”

‘Damn it’ Stefan though coming out from his hideaway.  
Cade looked at him and he instantly felt the purity and innocence of his soul.  
Stefan Salvatore may was a vampire, but he was a vampire with pure heart. Vampirism didn’t change his good nature, his spirit of sacrifice, his need of doing always the right thing in any situation. He had morals and rules than he imposed to himself without anyone telling him to do it so. He had the soul that Cade wanted, the kind of soul Cade was angry of. Like Sybil.  
Sybil used to be a good hearted girl, before her sister Seline sold her to Devil.  
The story was destined to repeat itself…. the good sibling sacrificed his soul for the bad one and in the end… he lived too much and saw himself turning into the wicked one.  
Sybil had become so much crueler than Seline that at some point she killed her older sissy for revenge.  
Cade could still hearing Seline’s screams for pain in his ears sometimes. It had been a painful death, nor that Sybil desired for less. She also laughed when Seline’s soul burned in hell.

“I recognize that look… You want him Cade… take Damon and he will propose himself instead” said Sybil with a mischievous smirk.

“No… listen… There’s no need to…”

Stefan was desperate. Who was that guy ? Why did Sybil was offering Damon’s soul ? Why was she doing that to him ?

“Yes, there is. Stefan would never saved me but if you have Damon you will have him as your new Hunter” said Sybil.

During all the time Damon had been in trance, he was there, he could hear, but he couldn’t talk or move, or escape. Sybil was controlling his mind, obliged him to assist while she was selling his brother’s soul to Devil.  
He wanted to rip Sybil’s heart for what she was doing to him and his brother, but he couldn’t.

“Please…” begged Stefan “Don’t take him away from me… I will… I…”

“Please, please… There’s no need to be so worried. Please, let me introduce myself, I’m Arcadius, but you can call me Cade. I’m the Devil, the King of hell, I take Damon’s soul, or the soul of everyone else… It’s only a matter of quantity”

‘Okay… no panic…’ Stefan though.  
Things wasn’t going well and he was scared to death. Did he said he was The Devil ? King of Hell ?  
Okay, he was a vampire and he went to Church to pray almost every Sunday evening, when Church was empty and he could be alone, but… having the Devil himself in front of him was another matter.  
He prayed, and prayed and now ?  
He hadn’t spent all that time in Church praying God for the safe of his soul only for having his soul sold to the Devil.  
But what could he do ?

“No, listen… I won’t let you have his soul… I won’t let it happen” said Stefan.

“Listen… maybe you’re right. Maybe I can ignore the quantity and focus myself on quality. Your soul for Damon’s and everyone one else.” proposed Cade.

Stefan’s heart lost a beat. Damon’s too.  
Sybil smiled than she got free Damon by her mind control.  
Now Damon was free of attacking Sybil but her mind control was too strong on him.  
She stopped him, before he could attack him.  
Sybil laughed. Damon Salvatore had been a thorn in the side since their first met. He was so annoying, he thought to be attractive and interesting but for her, he was only a pain in the ass. Even worst than his younger brother sometimes.

“Stay right there, honey. What is ? Are you not in love with me anymore ?” asked Sybil licking his cheek.

Damon squinted for displeasure. He hated that woman, with all his heart. He wanted to kill her but she was controlling his body. So he couldn’t do anything to stop them.

“Stay out of this, Stefan” ordered Damon to him.

Pleading Stefan was the only think he could do since Stefan was in bad situation because of him, again.  
But it was too late for prayers. Cade wanted Stefan’s soul now. Devils like him always known that the true evil had his origin in the purest heart. Damon had a dark side, he was the bad brother, the self-centered, he was already cruel enough to burn in hell. Stefan… on the other hand… could be corrupted and the light inside of him could create the darkest and the cruelest of monster. Why wasting his time with Damon when he could create his perfect little immortal monster ?  
Cade had other Sinners Hunters before and they were all the same, good, kind and pure people at the begin, and at the end, all of them became monsters, murderers who killed only for the pleasure of doing it. They loved killing so much that at some point they even forgot why they were doing it and in the end, when all the lights were turned off, Cade damned them in hell, to burn, to suffer, to pay for their sins and for all the sinners they had killed.  
At the end, Stefan’s soul would be his, he was sure about that.

“If I give you my soul… Will Damon be free of you ?” asked Stefan with tears in his eyes.

He was scared, scared to death, as he’s never been in his life. Not even death had been so scare. When his father shoot him right in the chest, he was scared but the idea that he would have gone to Paradise, where his mother was waiting for him, comforted him. But now ?  
Hi soul was going to be a property of Devil, he would become a soul of hell.  
He was afraid and he wanted to cry, but he wanted also lived that situation with dignity and courage.  
He wanted to be strong… but his hands were trembling… and he could also feel the flames of hell wrapping his soul.  
It was like he was already burning in hell.

“Why are you doing this ?” asked Damon when Stefan made his deal with Damon.

He knew Stefan better than anyone, he could see how much scare he was and he wanted to help him, but Sybil wasn’t letting him do it.

“Because you’re my brother and I would do everything for you” answered Stefan, then he looked Cade and said “I accept your deal”

“Now your soul belongs to me, Stefan Salvatore, and It’s going to be mine until you find a soul to save and not to damn” said Cade with a cruel smile.

Stefan accepted his deal. He accepted to become a murder for Cade, he accepted to kill all the wicked and evil people, even the people who had made simplest sins.  
Damon, of course, didn’t accept to be saved by him. He swore to find a way to brake the deal with Cade, he swore to help him and he did, for a little.  
He hated the way Cade was looking at his brother. It disgusted him and he swore, on his soul, that he would find a way to save Stefan from him.

“Now you’re free of my deal, my dear. Go away before I change my mind” ordered Cade to Sybil.

She nodded, then she ran away without looking back.  
Then Cade grabbed Stefan’s wrist, he whispered some strange words, if that was the right definition for that hoarse sounds.  
Cade’s touch was firm but he wasn’t hurting Stefan.  
Instead the flames which were wrapping around his wrist, fiery, burning, marking his wrist forever.  
Stefan screamed for pain, while the flames still burning his skin.  
He screamed and some tears slid down his cheeks. He wanted to be brave but he was scared to death, while flames wrapped his soul and damned him to hell forever.  
What was going to happen to him ? Would God ever forgive him ? Would he be ever free of Devil ?  
Would he find his redemption ?  
Would he be lost forever instead ?  
People always talked to him about the allure of darkness, about how much it could tempted even the purest heart. Stefan had been attracted once by darkness. Katherine had turned him into a darkness creature, but Stefan’l light survive over his vampirism.  
But now ? Hell darkness was entering into his heart, burning his soul, hurting him and shattering in thousand pieces all his beliefs.  
No one could save him now…  
From that flames appeared a silver bracelet, whit strange drawings on it, around Stefan’s wrist.

“Use this bracelet to kill. All the Sinners Hunters have one. Use it to kill sinners and bad people by ripping their hearts out of their chest and the bracelet will absorb their sins and pain in it.

“Their sins ? What does that mean ?” asked Stefan whiteout understanding.

“It means that the bracelet is a dark object. It can evoke hell flames to burn sinner’s souls and damn them in hell but as all the dark objects he need a source of energy to get stronger. More sins and pain it absorbs and more it’ll become powerful.”

“Oh… I get it.”

“That’s not all. Like all the Sinner Hunters, I’m giving you some special powers. You will be Immortal. Nothing and no one can kill you, which means that you don’t have anymore the typical weaknesses of a typical vampire. You can also feel the other’s sins. Because your role request to kill only the sinners. If you kill an innocent good people it’ll be homicide. This is because you can’t even drink the blood of your victims. Your victims only belong to me and hell. They won’t be food for you”

“Okay, I’m already a vegetarian vampire. It won’t be hard”

“You’re powers will improve, all of them and more you kill, more power the bracelet will be able to give to you. So now you’re one of the strongest creature in the world. Don’t worry dear…” said Cade drying Stefan’s tears with his fingers “… You’ll find it fun. Sooner or later. I can assure you. It’ll be a Hell of a Ride”

Then Cade started to walk away but Stefan grabbed his arm and asked him “When… You said… when… you said Immortal… what…”

“Dear, You belong to me now, okay ?” said Cade with a cruel smirk “Which means that no one can take you away from me and a part from finding a soul to save… there is not escape from me… not… even… Death”

Then Cade disappeared and Stefan felt he missed the earth under his feet. He fell on his knees, while Damon was silence behind him. Trying to figure it out a way to fix the umpteenth mess he was responsible of but he didn’t know what to do. He didn’t even had faith in God, he didn’t believe that there were Paradise or Hell, or doom… he was immortal, or he though he was. But Cade’s words were remembering him that he had weaknesses, that there were a lot of thing that could still kill him, that he wasn’t perfect as he wanted to believe.  
That there were a lot of creatures stronger than him, Cade, Sybil, Stefan…  
His little brother was a Sinner Hunter, he was a servant of Devil, he had to do the thing he hated the most: killing.  
Stefan was thinking about the same things. He was scared of becoming the thing he hated the most… a monster.  
When he used to be human he wanted to become a doctor to save people’s lives and now he had to burn their souls in hell forever.  
Because as Cade said there wasn’t a chance to escape from him.  
So Stefan ran, ran away, ran for minutes, hours… he didn’t even know.  
He stopped when he entered in a Church and he fell in front of the altar.

“Please…” he begged him with his voice broken for sobs “Please… God helps me… please… I don’t want to kill… I want to be saved… Please don’t abandon me…”

He begged and sobbed all night. He begged God to save him, to help him to find light again in all that darkness, he begged him for forgive him, for saving his soul.  
Damon, who had followed him, hugged his brother from behind.

“Don’t worry Steffy, we will find a solution. I promise”

But Stefan didn’t listen him at all. He closed his eyes, while he felt the hope disappeared from his heart and all his innocence abandoned him.  
There was no escape from hell for him.  
The Devil had chosen his soul and now it was burning down. Cade possessed his soul, now for deal, but what if Stefan didn’t find a soul to save ?  
What if darkness conquered all his heart ?  
‘I’m lost…’ Stefan though still crying.

“Don’t do like this… We’ll find the soul to save, Steffy. Don’t worry. It’ll be hell of a ride, but we can do it”

‘No, we can’t’, Stefan thought.  
Darkness was in his heart, it had marked him and now for Stefan there wasn’t nothing but burning.


	2. New Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stefan has made a deal with Cade and now he had to pay the consequences hunting and killing sinners, because now he had a Sinner Hunter.  
> The first years had been painful and overwhelming and Stefan was going to loose hope forever, fortunately his best friend Lexi would be at his side and also some new encounters would change Stefan's life forever.

'It has passed another day... splendid" Stefan thought looking at his reflect on the mirror in his bathroom.

He had just come back home after another night spent hunting and killing sinners, other souls which were burning in hell because of him. Other victims he had on conscience and who were hurting him to death. But Cade had been clear about his new role in the world, he had to kill sinners or Cade would have taken Damon's soul forever. So Stefan killed, over and over again and he wrote down their names to keep their memories in his mind. He didn’t want to forget any of them, he didn’t want to forget that he had sent them right in hell, without giving them a possibility to be forgiven by God. He didn’t want to forget that hell’s flames were burning his heart, that his soul was dark as night, that he belonged to darkness, that there was no hope for him anymore. He didn’t want to forget that he was so close to hell that he could almost felt the eternal damnation with his fingers.

He also started to dress up completely in black and when he killed he also wore a black hood. Not so much original, he had to admit but he didn’t want to show his face to his victims.  
Damon said he looked like a Dark Knight and he started to call him like that. Stefan didn’t appreciate a lot that surname.  
He still remembered his first kill.  
His name was Dorian Dougherty, thirty seven years old, he was a cruel usurer, who took advantage of the naivety and ignorance of peasants to fraud them.  
Stefan had observed and followed him for three days before to make his move.  
Dorian Dougherty was in his studio, he was counting the money earned during the last week, writing from time to time on some sheets.  
Stefan entered like a shadow in his studio, while Damon took care of the servants. Stefan begged him not to kill them but he wasn’t sure that Damon would listened him.

“Good evening, Mr Dougherty. I hope I’m not disturbing you.”

Dorian jumped with fright and he turned toward Stefan “Who are you, freak ? How did you entered here ? GO AWAY !!”

Stefan laughed “I don’t obey you, you thief. You’re only a pathetic fraud, who takes advantage of poor people, you’re a peace of rubbish “

“How do you dare talking to me in this way ?? IN MY HOUSE ??! GO AWAYYYY !!” shouted Dorian out of his mind for anger, taking his gun from a drawer of his desk.

“I don’t have to be anywhere else than here. I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be” said Stefan coming closer to Dorian “And you’re so rude that I don’t think I’m going to regret this”

Fast as a lamp, Stefan pushed Dorian against a wall and he inserted his hand into Dorian’s chest, at heart level.  
Stefan could feel the beating heart in his fingers and he hated that sensation. Dorian started to scream for help, he tried to push Stefan away with all his strength but the flames in the bracelets started to burn his heart and then his soul too.  
When the flames completely wrapped Dorian, Stefan ripped his heart out of his chest.  
Dorian fell on the ground, turned in ashes and all his darkness and his sins entered in the bracelet and Stefan could feel them inside him and that scared him to death.  
Damon helped him finding the evil men, killing them, torturing them and trying to stop him from drinking their blood. It was another Cade’s condition to him. Stefan wasn’t allowed to drink human’s blood, he was obliged to drink only animal’s blood.  
So, Damon stayed at his side for the first fifty years but then he went away. He lost faith in him to find the soul to save and he was tired of being with him, hunting people down for their sins, he wanted to be free, he wanted to live his own life and when he disappeared Stefan let him go.

“We both knew it would happen sooner or later. Killing with you is fun but…” said Damon opening the door of their apartment.

“You need to say away from me. You promised me an eternity of misery and now that you succeed you can go away.”

“Steffy, don’t do like this. I promised you an eternity of misery, but I promised you to help you to find a soul to save. It’s just that…”

“It’s nothing, Damon. You shouldn’t have been here in the first place. After all, I didn’t make a deal with Cade only to obliged you to be and live like me… like a shadow… without interact to anyone… with the constant fear that someone could find out our secret… You deserve better Damon” said Stefan.

“You too. This is because I’m not giving up on you. I just need time for myself.” said Damon with a strange look.

“You don’t own me any explanation. Good luck Damon”

“Good luck”

Damon closed the door behind and went away.  
He knew he wasn’t doing the right thing, he knew he shouldn’t have left but he needed.  
His father was right, he was a disappointment. He made promises and he forced himself into keeping them but he wasn’t perfect and he couldn’t see Stefan suffer in that way, every single day.  
That situation was killing Stefan from the inside. At the beginning Stefan tried so hard to fight against the need of killing, now he was pretending to ignore it. Like a sort of headache, something temporary, that was going to end sooner or later.  
Like every time he killed, like any other of his victim was a sort of bad day when even the comb he used for his hair loved him.  
Stefan tried to get used to his new situation, he created a new life, using his old good pure self as a mask, while inside the darkness were devouring him and his soul. But he wore that mask, that bloody hood because he had to.  
However Stefan could device anyone but him. Damon knew that ignoring the situation, pretending that everything was normal, putting on a play won’t make problem going away.  
It was costing to Stefan more and more every day. His brother was living in a silent agony, where even the simplest task, like eating, talking, walking, feeling… were so painful that he could barely breath.  
Damon feared Stefan could lost hope at any moment.  
He would have had any reason to do. Why would he keep on trying if nothing made him happy anyway ? Why if he hadn’t found a soul to save yet ? He didn’t even know where to start.  
It was a vicious circle, where days were indistinguishable and Stefan was living emotionless every moment of his life.  
That was because Damon needed to go away. He couldn’t see Stefan in that way anymore and he needed to find a way to save Stefan from his living hell but he couldn’t do it if he stayed.  
He knew it and so Stefan.  
Stefan couldn’t say he wasn’t hurt, but he knew it would have happened anyway. Damon was a self-centered and selfish, he loved him but his self-preservation instinct always got over him and Stefan was tired of blaming Damon for his own problems.  
Because now Cade was completely his problem and he had to find a way to be free of his deal.  
Stefan had new powers thanks to his deal with Cade. He could sense other’s sins, he could known what kind of sins they were, the things the men killed by him had done. Because of Cade’s prohibition of drinking human’s blood, Stefan could kill the sinners thanks to a bracelet which contained inside hell’s flames. When he ripped the heart of the sinner out of his chest he used the flames to burn their heart and their soul.  
Stefan was scared of that power, and it used to scare Damon too during the first period, but he was obliged to flow Cade’s instructions. He didn’t have choices.  
Supernatural people also known him by his new alias “Sinners Hunter” and they have every reason to fear him. He was Immortal, no one and nothing could kill him. He eventually came back alive.  
But he still had faith in God. If Cade existed, God had to exist too right ? So he kept to pray, after every single murders, he went to church and he prayed, prayed God to be free, to be forgiven by him, to be forgiven for all his sins and his faults.  
He also went in Church because Cade warned him that every time that he killed, his soul absorbed the sinner’s sins and if Stefan wasn’t careful, the darkness absorbed in the bracelet could have filled his heart and he would have become the next soul to be damned in hell.  
He still wrote his thoughts, his sins, his victims’ names on his journasl. It was a way to feel less lonely, because he didn’t have anyone to talk, no one to share his thoughts, his fear, his feelings about the entire situation. His journals were a poor replacements of real people, but Stefan’s always settled for little, especially for situations like that. Journals couldn’t consolate him, or listen him, or comfort him, but they were something, and something was better than nothing.  
He also met Lexi, on his birthday on 1955.  
Stefan had just killed another sinner. He was guilty of cheating on his wife and then killing her to escape with his lover. Stefan ripped his heart and then he burned it with Hell’s flames.  
He was in Church when Lexi found him.

“I knew I’d found you here. I’m happy you hadn’t lost your faith”

“I can’t. I’m in a big trouble this time, Lexi. I’m not sure that I’ll receive forgiveness this time”

“Why are you saying these things ? What happen ?” asked Lexi with sadness in his voice.

“Do you believe in devil ?” asked Stefan without looking Lexi in her eyes for the shame.

He didn’t know if he was ready to tell Lexi the entire true. He was scared of losing the only friend, almost sister, he had. What if Lexi’d decide to go away and not to see him again ? What if she’d despised him ? What if he’d lost her forever ?  
He couldn’t loose Lexi, she was the only one he left.

“I can’t say that I’m particularly religious even if I still hope that… I could be safe and have peace somewhere. Why ?” asked Lexi which was feeling that the question was more serious that she had imagined.

“Because I ended up in troubles…”

“That in Stefan’s language means that Damon ended up in troubles and you fixed them for him” said Lexi with anger.

She couldn’t say that she despised Damon, instead she hated him. He was the reason why Stefan usually ended up in troubles and he didn’t even had the decency of helping him to fix them. Damon just ignored the troubles he made and run away, the coward !  
She tried to help them to make up but Damon was too selfless to see over his own pain and ego to understand how pain he caused. So she gave up and she was right.  
Damon was the main reason of Stefan’s unhappiness.

“I… he wasn’t his fault, not completely. He didn’t have any idea what he was going into. He met a girl, she was… cursed, we can say that and she… she made a deal with the deal to be free.”

“What ? A deal with devil ? Are you kidding me ?” asked Lexi completely stunned.

“I would like it, a lot. But It’s the true. Sybil sold Damon’s soul to devil to get her freedom back from him. And Damon was capable of feeling my sins and he blamed me of turning him into a vampire when he didn’t want to. He said that I made what he had become”

“You can’t be serious !! He would have died if you didn’t convince him to complete the transition and if he was so determinate to stay human he could have taken a stake and used him to kill himself. He didn’t. He spent his eternity killing, torturing, messing around and blaming others for his mistakes”

“But he was right Lexi. I turned him, I was scared of being alone and I… can’t live in a world where he’s death and…”

“Yes, maybe you had been self centered. But Damon can’t put the blame on the others for his sins. So… what have you done for saving him from the devil ?”

“I sold my soul to Devil. I have to kill sinners. I have to burn their souls with hell’s flames that this bracelet gives to me and I have to be careful” answered Stefan avoiding her gaze.

“Careful ? You made a deal with Devil and you say that there’s something else to be careful about ? You’re just in an ocean of darkness, Stefan !!” Lexi shouted.

“Not yet. Cade, the devil I made a deal with, told me that I had to find a way to protect my soul from the darkness inside my bracelet. Every time that I kill, the darkness inside of sinners filled my bracelet and that same darkness could fill my heart if I let the anger and the hatred overwhelmed me.”

“And what happened if you surrender to that darkness ?” asked Lexi fearing his answer.

“If happens that I will be the next soul to burn in hell” answered Stefan no longer able to hold back some tears.

Lexi’s heart broke down in that moment and she didn’t even try to hold her tears back. She didn’t want to. Her “baby adoptive brother” was risking to burn in hell for the eternity and she couldn’t accept that. Stefan deserved much better than that. She grabbed Stefan’s hand, almost breaking it, but both of them didn’t care.  
That situation was worst than they had though and they had all the right to suffer and cry, especially in a place like Church where no one could judge them.

“Please…” begged Lexi “… Please tell me there’s a loophole”

“There is. But I almost surrender, I don’t think I’ll be ever free again” said Stefan.

“No, I don’t accept that you surrender. Okay ? When you used to be a Ripper and I helped you and I swore that I would never give up on you. I don’t care about your deal with devil, I’m going to help you to get free of your deal and…”

“Lexi !! There’s a lot of darkness… Even Damon gave up on me when he understood how dangerous was the entire situation. I don’t want to put you in danger, not you or anyone else” said Stefan who wanted to go away.

He made a big mistake telling Lexi the truth. He knew her much well, she would never give up on him, at cost of putting herself in danger. But he couldn’t involve her in his deal with Cade. She was too precious for him to let her happen any harms.  
He would serve Cade until the end of his days and no one could help him to escape from his curse.  
But Lexi was too stubborn to let Stefan go. She wanted to help him, she wasn’t scare of the darkness because she believed that the light that filled Stefan’s heart were much stronger.  
Stefan only needed to believe in himself, to believe that he was still a good boy, to believe that someone still believe that he could escape hell.  
He still need to believe that someone still cared about him.

“Please…” she said “Tell me how I can help you”

Stefan remained silent for a moment, thinking whether to lie or tell the truth, then he opted for second option. Lexi knew him too well, if he lied to him, she’d understand.

“The only loophole I have is saving a soul instead of damning it to hell.”

“A soul to save and not to damn ? How ?”

“I don’t know. I’m still looking for it but… I can’t understand how I can save a soul. All of the people that I’ve killed were sinners but all of them could have been forgiven by someone. But not one of them was that particularly soul to save. I think that there’s something that I still need to figure out”

“I’m going to help you Stefan. I promise, we will find a way out of this.”

And Stefan, for some reason, believed to her.  
Lexi kept her words, she remained with him all the time, leaving him only when she wanted to visit some her witches friends or other supernatural creatures trying to find a way out of the deal. But she eventually came back to him all the time.  
Stefan was happy for that. Lexi’s company was useful to cheer him up, to make him laugh, especially after a murder. Lexi knew how to reassure him after a nightmare, she was patient and she still had hope and faith in him.  
‘We can do it’ she said that line every single time that Stefan was near to surrender.  
In 1970, it was night, Stefan was hunting in the wood, looking for some animal to eat.  
He had already killed another sinner and he was hungry, a lot. But he had the sensation that something was observing him from the trees’ shadows.  
Stefan tried to ignore that sensation. It wasn’t unusual, he knew that Cade, sometimes, lent someone to keep a eye on him in his place. Stefan didn’t know who or what it was but he knew it was there.  
Stefan finished to bury his last meal, then he turned around and he saw a pair of golden eyes that were looking at him.

“Good evening” said Stefan “Look, if you were hoping to be good at hiding from me, let me tell you, you’re not doing a good job. Especially with that eyes. So… come here, if you want something from me or go away”

His “stalker” chose to come closer to him and then Stefan saw a little girl, who seemed to be ten years old about, with long wavy red hair, pale skin and golden bright eyes. At some point a demon red fox wrapped her body and Stefan understood what kind of creature that little girl was, she was a kitsune. They had a fox demon inside of them and sometimes they worked for devils like Cade. They had the power to manipulate, to device and to trick people and they feed on people’s negative feelings… jealously, anger, pain, hatred, fear, conflict…  
They were perfect to work for devils and also they had the power to kidnap people and drag them to hell.  
Cade warned him to be careful if he’d met a kitsune. But that little girl has been following him for some years, he knew it. It wasn’t the first time he had the sensation that someone was observing him and it wasn’t the first time he caught that golden eyes looking at him.

“Good evening, little fox. Nice to meet you” he said coming closer to her.

“Good evening, Mr Salvatore. My name is Eri, I’ve been following you for a while and I… I was hoping to feed on you. I’m hungry” said Eri, while the demon fox around her disappeared and her golden eyes turned into a forest green.

“Do you want to feed on my pain right ? Why ?” asked Stefan bluntly and a little irritated.

“You’re not the first Sinner Hunter I met. You absorb pain, darkness, hatred and sins all the things we kitsunes need to live. I felt your pain and it seemed delicious. If you let me feeding on you, I will take some of your pain away from you. Believe me, it’s an equal beneficial”

It was true. Stefan had a lot of pain who was torturing his heart and a kitsune would have taken a part of it away from him. Stefan’d have felt better but he couldn’t trust.  
The little girl seemed apparently harmless, but what if she wasn’t what she looked ? What if there were other kitsunes with here, ready to drag him in hell forever ? He already had one foot in the grave and he didn’t want to fall completely.

“How old are you ?” asked Stefan who still didn’t trust of that little girl.

“Younger than you but older than other people. Please… let me feed on you and then I swear… I…”

“You foxes are deceptive. Not matter how young you are. Go away” said Stefan starting to walk away from the little fox.

“If I wanted to deceive you, I’d taken your pain without asking for it. I’m alone and I don’t want to drag your soul in hell, if that’s what you’re worried about, even if I guess it’s late for you for worrying about your soul.” said Eri following him.

“Yes, I’m a Sinners Hunter, that’s mean that you can’t hurt me but that doesn’t mean I can’t hurt you if you persist into boring me” said Stefan harshly.

Eri didn’t say anything but her fox demon appeared again around her and then she grabbed firmly Stefan’s wrist and suddenly she started to absorb his pain. Stefan tried to get free but the child was stronger than the though and also he was feeling an huge pain while she was feeding on her.  
But the bad feelings lasted for a minute, then he started to feel better. The huge and suffocating pain he had, due to all the darkness and bad feelings he had absorbed all that year, was going away and part of his burdens were gone after other three minutes.  
Then Eri left his wrist and her demon fox disappeared again.

“Thanks, Mr Salvatore. How do you feel ?” asked Eri with a kind smile.

“Better. Should I thank you ? Or are you going to deceive me ?” asked Stefan a little suspicious.

Eri rolled her eyes and snorted “I don’t want to hurt you. Not all kitsunes are bad, like not all the vampires are evil. I’m a kitsune and your blond friend is a vampire but both of us don’t hurt anyone. I was just angry and your pain was… is, actually, delicious.”

Then she started to go away but Stefan grabbed her right arm, trying not to hurt her and then he asked “Where are you going ? Are you all alone ?”

He didn’t know why but he was worried about the little fox. He didn’t want to let her all alone in the woods. Even if the child was a supernatural creature he knew that there were other creatures out there, in the woods and it was never a good idea being all alone in that places.  
At the end, Eri didn’t hurt him and she didn’t seem to want hurt him, she was just hungry and there weren’t other kitsunes with her, or they would have already appeared to drag him in the hell.

“I told you, I’m alone. My family… my pack… abandoned me. All of them have almost got all nine tails, instead I don’t even have my fifth tail and it’s pretty humiliating for me. They… deceived me and abandoned me. Now… if you don’t mind… I’m going to look for a repair.”

Stefan felt suddenly sad for her. Her pack abandoned her and now she was completely alone, just like he had been abandoned and he was alone against the world. It was painful. The loneliness was truly painful, it made all your day grayer, slower and lifeless. When you suffered, no one consulted you, because no one knew it in the first place, when you needed someone, there was no one who hugged you and told you that everything was going to be all right.  
Stefan was tired of being alone, was tired of speaking to the air, was tired of settling of his journals as confident. He wanted someone to be as his side, someone who could understand how important was for him his presence in his life.  
In that moment he came up with an idea.

Eri started to go away again, but Stefan grabbed her wrist this time and said “I’m not going to leave you all alone here. Listen… I have a proposal for you. You come with me and remain at my side, you know… like friends and help me with my… job and in return you will be free to feed on my pain. What do you think ?”

Eri blinked and she looked really surprised “Are you not deceiving me right ? Can I trust you right ?” asked almost desperate and sad.

In that moment Stefan felt pity for her. She was a lonely little child and she was scared of him and above all she was scared of being hurt by her. Stefan could understand her pretty well. He was scared of being hurt and deceived too.

“We still don’t know each other, but we can create a new family and this time we won’t abandon each other.”

Maybe it had been an hasty decision but it was one of the best Stefan’s ever taken.  
He was stuck in a horrible situation because of someone tricked Damon and eventually Stefan had been inevitably involved. Now he had to work for Devil and that little fox had to learn alone what kitsunes knew best: deceive.  
Nevertheless the situation took an unexpected turn for both. Maybe that was a good occasion for Stefan to learn of trusting of people again and maybe Eri could have had someone who truly cared about her.  
At the end, Eri accepted his offer and they started to live together. Stefan taught her everything he knew, how to fight, to to live between normal people, he taught her latin, greek, he introduced her to literature, and he bought her a rosary so they could pray together in Church and Eri, in return, taught him oriental languages. She told him that kitsunes could speak Japanese, Chinese, Mandarin, Korean and other various oriental languages since their born. It was one of their innate talents.  
She also told him she was a kitsune of Fire but her power wouldn’t develop until she’d have her fifth tail.  
They travelled together around the world and they learn to take care of each other, looking more like father and daughter than friends.  
Stefan remembered the first time she called him “Otōsan”. They were hunting, or better, Stefan was hunting some rabbits in the woods during a moonlight night and Eri had accompanied him not to leave him alone.  
Unfortunately, in that wood there was a pack of werewolves, who didn’t appreciate, at all, two strangers hunting in their hunting ground, especially if that two strangers were a vampire and a kitsune.  
Vampires and foxes didn’t get along with werewolves, everyone knew it.  
Werewolves surrounded them, they growled at them, ready to attack them.

“Eri, stay still. Stay still.”

But Eri was an impulsive child. She evoked her Kyuubi, which wrapped her and she attacked the werewolves. She evoked her tails and produced her Fox-fire, she created small balls of fire and threw them against the wolves. They were weak but enough to make some of them running away.  
While Stefan hurt the other wolves and made them running away. He didn’t want to kill them, it wasn’t necessary.  
They may were sinners but they were in their animal form, so until they remained so, he wasn’t going to kill them. He would spare their lives.  
Except one of them. A wolf scratched Eri near her kneel and bitted her wrist.  
She screamed for pain, and in that moment Stefan lost his mind. He was furious, his anger made him blind and wrapped his heart.  
But it was a kind of anger he’s never felt… he felt like a father when he saw someone hurt his children.  
He kicked the wolf away from Eri with all his strength, braking all his bones and pushing him against a tree. He was going to kill him but her grabbed his jacket with her sane hand.

“Otōsan… please.” said her in tears “If you kill him I’ll lose you forever. I want to go home.”

Stefan remained silent, still trying to figure it out what meant “Otōsan” when Eri hugged him and hid her face in his jacket.  
So Stefan took her in his arms and went home where he cured her.  
After that night, Eri started to call Stefan “Otōsan” and the vampire didn’t mind it. They looked similar, they had the same forest green eyes so when people asked, Stefan told them she was his daughter.  
When Lexi eventually found him again, she was surprised for the news but she looked happy about it. She said that Eri’s presence could help Stefan not to feel lonely when Lexi left him.

‘I’m happy to know that someone’s keeping an eye on you when I can’t do it personally.” said Lexi while they were hunting in the woods.

“I’m glad you support me in this decision. I wasn’t sure about what to do with Eri. She’s a kitsune after all and even if she still hasn’t developed her powers, I can fell she would become really powerful.”

“That’s good. You need a powerful alley. It’s not like you have a lot friends at the moment. Just me and Eri who support you in this situation and that’s is not enough”

“I think it is. I’m immortal, I can’t die because of my deal with Cade and It’s going to be like this until I find the soul to save. And for now I haven’t done any progresses. And it’s 2000. I can’t even remember how long I’ve been killing for Cade.”

“See, you’re starting to demoralize you again. Come one, don’t do like that.”

“How can’t I ? It’s almost a century that I’ve been a Sinner Hunter.”

“Humans are not impossible to save. I can assure you about that. Redemption does exist, you just need not to give up your faith in God and in yourself.”

“Maybe… Maybe I don’t have to save a human. Maybe for someone it’s too easy. Maybe I have to save someone… like… me” concluded Stefan.

“Please, If you’re thinking about Damon, change your mind, now. You can’t save him, because he doesn’t want to be saved and with him you would only waste your time. Pick another supernatural soul.”

“Any idea ? I don’t know a lot people. I’m too busy doing my job, praying, taking care of my… musume and it’s completely new for me”.

“Maybe you should hurry up for her. For Eri. She deserves to have some stability in her life and you’re not doing a good job in it” Lexi reproved him.

Stefan looked down. He knew she was right but he wasn’t ready for that conversation yet. He knew that Eri, that her “musume” (daughter), deserved better from him. Devil dragged his soul in hell but Eri’s ones didn’t have to follow his in the flames. She was a kitsune, and kitsune worked for Demons, but Stefan, who could feel men’s sins, knew that her soul was pure. She’s never killed anyone, she’s never got anyone’s soul, she’s never hurt anyone but other made her suffer a lot.  
Some nights Stefan heard her crying and screaming, begging him not to abandon her in her sleep, begging him not to forget about her and every time Stefan’s heart broke down. He woke her up and then he hugged her and prepared her a chamomile. Then he told his life, when he used to be human and everything was so easy, and he wanted to be a doctor to save people, to give them a chance to live, instead of killing them and damned them in hell.  
They were family now, the only family Stefan left and he loved Eri with all his heart.  
A lot of years passed. Stefan’s reputation as Sinner Hunter increased even if no one still hadn’t found out who was the man under the black hood, who was the mysterious Dark Knight, who scared both humans and supernatural creatures.  
No one knew how to kill him, or defeat him, no one knew his name, he was a ghost, a shadow, a bringer of death. No matter how much his targets were rick, or powerful, or how many years they were on the earth… The Hunter always took their live at the end.  
On 2017, Lexi left him and Eri again, she wanted to see another witch to help them, so Stefan and Eri travelled alone and they went in New Orleans, where a war was going on.  
An unusual war, between werewolves and a powerful family, The Mikaelson, were fighting against an entire faction of vampires, leaded by a vampire, Marcel Gerard.  
It was the ideal city for a Sinner Hunter like Stefan.  
A lot of bad things happened in that city in the last seven years. Stefan could feel blood, pain, tears… sins… a lot of sins… and Eri could feel them too, while they were walking in the French Quarter, looking and observing people around them.

“There’re a lot of bad people here. I’m already hungry” said Eri with a delighted smile.

“We have to be careful, Eri. As you said, there’re a lot of dangerous people here.”

“Otōsan, do you think that you will find your soul here ? There’s a lot of darkness and sins and I doubt that someone here can be saved”

“Maybe you’re right but I’ve still a job to do. We stay here, we… I… kill someone and if we don’t find no one we will go away as always. But an attempt must be made. I’m done with being a Sinner Hunter.”

“So… who’s going to be the first ?” asked Eri.

Stefan stopped to walk for a moment, then he closed his eyes and he concentrated on sins around him. People who committed unforgivable sins were easy to locate and identify, Stefan could feel their sins easier, he only had to focus his attention on them.  
At some point he felt two inviting sinners, two vampires, they were in a parking lot and they were looking for someone, Stefan could feel it too.

“I found two targets. Not a bad start.”

“Are we going to kill them now ?”

“Eri, there’s no we. I’m going to kill them and then you can absorbed their pain from me. That’s all.”

“Yes, as you wish.” said Eri rolling her eyes “But, is the hunt starting now ? Onaka ga akimashita (I’m hungry)” said Eri with an hopeful look.

Stefan reflected for a moment. He’s already wearing his black jacket with his hood and no one knew him in that town so maybe he could start his hunt right there right now. He didn’t have other things to do after all. It was his job.  
So, Stefan and Eri went to parking lot and they saw the two vampires. They were two men and when they saw Stefan and Eri, they decided to feed on them.  
Stefan didn’t waste time, he killed them with the bracelet’s fames and then he absorbed their sins. Then he let Eri absorbed their pain from him.

“Delicious. Vampires are the best, always. Their feelings are always more intense than human ones, except when they had turned their humanity off. They stop to be inviting after that” commented Eri “Anyway, if things keep doing this way I’m sure I’m going to got my fifth tail.”

Stefan smiled to her. He knew how mush she suffered for not having developed her fight tail. She had tried, a lot, in that years. She exercised with the few powers she had, she absorbed his pain, she tried at all. She even looked like a teenager now. Eri explained him that kitsunes got older slowly were slowly, and that at some point they just stopped to get older.

“You’ll do it, Eri. We both will do it. We can”

“I know, otōsan”

Eri nodded, then she asked, almost disappointed “Have already done ?”

“Of course not. Kari ga hajimatta bakari (the hunt has just begun)”

The Sinner Hunter spent the entire night hunting and killing and Eri absorbed all the pain. At the end of the night, half hour before sunrise Stefan went to Church with Eri. Stefan had killed ten vampires and other twenty sinners.  
In the morning, rumors about a mysterious Murder arrived in New Orleans. The vampires were more cautious then before, the people didn’t feel safe anymore, they walked slowly, avoided unsafe roads, didn’t spend a lot of time out, especially during the night, a part from vampires and werewolves.  
There was still a war and Stefan wanted to know more about it.  
Stefan went in St. James Infirmary, a jazz cub which served as neutral territory between the supernatural factions of the city for decades. Stefan also felt that in the place magic didn’t have any effect, especially located spell. Stefan felt it because inside of it, he couldn’t feel the sins of the people in there, not even one.

“Otōsan… I don’t think I can go in. I wouldn’t feel at ease. I stay around.”

“Shinichō ni sukoshi kitsune koto” (Be careful little fox) said Stefan kissing Eri’s hair. “Mataatode” (see you later”

“Mataatode otōsan”

Eri went out and Stefan sat at a table and started to look at people and listen them. He couldn’t feel their sins, but he could listen them talking. They were whispering about him, or better, about his murders. Both men and vampires, who were there, were whispering about the “New Killer” of New Orleans, but no one of them had understood that the Sinners Hunter was the true responsible.  
Stefan was pretending to look something on his phone, when a pretty barmaid came close to him.

“Hello honey, where have you been hiding yourself ? It’s the first time that I see you” said her looking at Stefan, eating him with her eyes.

“I… arrived here two days ago” lied Stefan.

He had to. He didn’t even take off his jacket, so he could hide his bracelet. He couldn’t trust anyone, it would have looked suspecting that new murders happened in New Orleans and suddenly a new guy arrived in there, in a bar where magic didn’t work. This was because he lied about Eri, there wasn’t any need to tell her about his daughter. She was a stranger and he didn’t know her at all. He couldn’t even feel her sins, what if she was a murder ?  
He didn’t judge, but he had to be careful anyway,

“So you don’t know anyone else here ? I know a lot of people… like you…” she said toking at his day ring “Interested ?”

“Actually, I… I know that a war is in progress. When I arrived a werewolf almost savaged my leg. What’s going on here ?” asked Stefan.

“Three years ago a tragedy happened between the Mikaelsons, the famous Original Family, and the other co-leader of New Orleans. Marcel Gerard. He helped Mikaelsons after one of them, Klaus Mikaelson, demoted him as King of New Orleans. Marcel now is a Super Vampire and all the vampires obey to him. Mikaelsons made an allegiance with werewolves and so…”

“And so the war continues. Hello, Sylvia. Who’s the toddler here who’s making all these questions ?” asked a blond guy with a British accent just arrived.

“Hi Klaus. He’s just arrived. He was only curious. Maybe he wanted a little help to choose a side”

“Then, take us something good. I will talk with our new friend”

The blond guy, Klaus sat in front of him and he scanned him with his blue eyes. Stefan had to admit it, he was beautiful, he’s never seen a guy more beautiful than him. Stefan knew he was into guys, he found it out after the first time he had sex with Katherine but he didn’t tell anyone. He was ashamed of it, he didn’t accepted his homosexuality. But Klaus was beautiful and he had something that was attracting Stefan, his body and his heart.  
Stefan wasn’t a fool, he had heard a lot, during his years spent in killing all sinners, about the famous Original Hybrid, Niklaus Mikaelson. Stefan didn’t have to feel his sins because he’s already known them, all of them. But Stefan knew he couldn’t kill him. Killing an Original meant killing an entire bloodline of vampires, so Cade prohibited him to do it.  
Vampires are hunters, they killed, they hurt and they didn’t care about their actions and for Cade was much more profitable them to stay alive rather than die.  
Stefan’s heart was beating fast, his blood was running through his veins like fires and for once it wasn’t the bracelet to burn his skin, was something else, something that was making Stefan feel strange.

“What’s your name lad ?” asked Klaus not stop to look at him.

“Stefan Salvatore”

“Hello, Mr Salvatore. I’m Klaus, Klaus Mikaelson”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi !! I hope you like my idea to introduce a new Kitsune character. I must say I was pretty disappointed when kitsunes didn't appear in the show so I decided to introduce them in my story.  
> I think it could be appropriate due to the fact that in the books kitsunes were responsible of kidnapping Stefan and imprisoning him in the Dark Dimension, but in my story I wanted create an alley for Stefan. Let me know what you think about Eri.  
> Thanks for reading my story and for following it !!


	3. Welcome to New Orleans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stefan's just arrived in New Orleans with the intention of not forge with anyone. Unfortunately he couldn't avoid to meet the infamous Klaus Mikaelson, the Original Hybrid, who quickly developed an unjustified hatred and suspect toward Stefan.   
> Klaus understood that Stefan was hiding a lot of secrets, so he was determinate to find them out.   
> But Klaus wasn't the only one interested in the newcomer...

'Welcome to New Orleans, Stefan. You've just arrived and you've already pointed out by one of most dangerous people of the town, congratulation !!" Stefan thought wanting to punch himself in the face.

He noticed that Klaus was scrutinizing him with his blue eyes and Stefan didn’t feel at ease. It was like Klaus was reading him inside his soul, like he wanted to know all his secrets and fears to dominate him and destroy him.   
Stefan understood quickly that Klaus was a manipulator, paranoid who didn’t hesitate to take advantage of other people.   
But Stefan wasn’t scared, fascinated, he still felt that intense flame inside his heart, but he wasn’t afraid of Klaus.   
He had no chance to fin out his secrets, he didn’t know who he was, he didn’t know his past and he couldn’t see the bracelet, hidden under his jacket.

“I guess you’re the famous Klaus Mikaelson the girl was talking about” said Stefan licking his lower lip, pretending to be almost annoyed by other’s company.

Klaus thinned his eyes and electrocuted other with his eyes and said “Why were you asking all that question ? Times are tough and my family is at war and I can’t take any risk.”

“I don’t want to hurt anyone. I… I will leave sooner or later. I’m not going to stay long there and I don’t want to take any side.”

Stefan was saying the true, more or less, he was here to kill sinners, but not to hurt Klaus or his family and he didn’t remain or being involved in a war. He didn’t want have any other troubles.  
He was looking at the other boy and Stefan wouldn’t like not to see him anymore, but he was still a Sinner Hunter, he had a job to do and it wasn’t a safe job.   
Klaus hided well his relief when the other said that he would leave New Orleans sooner or later. He’s already met the guy and nevertheless he did want him to go away, because his family didn’t need another enemy to fight against.   
Klaus didn’t trust anyone anymore, every vampires arrived in New Orleans didn’t hesitate to take the side of the new King of New Orleans. All of them, even the ones who had the luck to never meet him, decided to fight against him, wanting dead him and his family and Klaus was sure that this new toddler would want the same, at the end.

“Well what are you planning to do then ? New Orleans is not a safe place for someone who doesn’t belong to any factions, especially someone young as you are. You can’t survive”

“Isn’t too early for you to underestimate me ? You don’t know me or what I can do to survive.” said Stefan with determination.

Klaus remained irritated by all that bravery, by the fire he could see in the toddler’s eyes. He was a fighter and he wasn’t afraid of taking risks.   
‘I want to see how long it will last your impudence’ Klaus though. Maybe he was irrational but he hated that guy. Maybe it was because of his ridiculous hair, or his arrogance, or confidence but he was hating him, really. If he could rip his hart out of his chest in that moment, he would have done it.  
But another part of him wanted Stefan Salvatore’s allegiance, maybe he had some special talents that could be helpful to win the war against Marcel. Stefan Salvatore was worth a try. Maybe he was a good killer, even if his stupid face suggested that he was a good for nothing.  
He didn’t know why but he wanted to know better that younger man, he wanted his help but he didn’t want looking desperate.

“So… you’re not afraid of New Orleans, are you ?” asked Klaus while the barmaid took them two glasses of whiskey.

“New Orleans is only a town like any other and this is not the first supernatural war that I encountered and I’ve always survived. If someone of Marcel’s vampire try to kill me I will rip him apart… and… if one of your werewolves try to bite me, it will die in the same painfully way. I’m not here to hurt anyone so I expect to be left in peace” said Stefan bringing the glass to his lips.

Klaus smirked and then he asked again “You won’t have any better proposal. I know I’m not in a… good situation right here right now. I don’t have the power that I used to have, but I’m still the Original Hybrid and when I will take back everything that Marcel had taken away from me I…”

“I know. You’re going to kill the ones who had betrayed your family and recompense the ones who had helped you. But, as I said, I’m not going to be here when it happen, so don’t waste your time with me.”

Then Stefan drank all his glasses and put some bills on the table and went out.   
Maybe if had been rude by him but he felt the necessity to put some distance between him and Niklaus Mikaelson. That guy was making him feel strange and not at ease and Stefan didn’t like it, at all.   
No one before made him feeling that way. No one made his legs trembling, or his heart beat faster,   
Of course Stefan had been so naive not to consider that Klaus would have followed him.   
Klaus was a stubborn person, he wouldn’t give up until he had what he wanted and what he wanted was that handsome toddler.

“Hey. Don’t do like that. You’re rude you know that ?” asked Klaus seriously irritating.

“I’m…”

Stefan was going to make up an excuse but an high-pitched scream caught his and Klaus’ attention. The two vampires started to run toward the direction from which came the scream and there they found their two daughters who were fighting against two other vampires. Hope, although she was a really young witch, she had a great power and she learnt to use it, at least to defend herself from vampires, instead Eri was a kitsune and even if she hadn’t developed her fifth tail yet, her powers had improved a lot, but she was limiting to only use her supernatural speed, strength and her skill in close combat.   
Klaus intervened and snapped a vampire’s neck while Stefan ripped the other’s heart out of his chest.

“What are you doing here, my little wolf ?” asked Klaus hugging his daughter.

“I was walking and suddenly two vampires appeared and attacked me. Fortunately that ginger child was around here and came here to help me.” answered Hope.

Klaus looked at Eri who was looking at Stefan as she was silently asking him if she was authorized to call him ‘otōsan’ in front of two strangers.  
Stefan, who could feel Klaus’ eyes passed between him and Eri, decided to hug the little girl and caress her hair. He would have been a liar if he’d said that he hadn’t worry. Eri was the most important person in his life and he’d killed everyone who dared to hurt her. He didn’t care if she wasn’t his biological daughter, he was her father, her otōsan and at that point hiding it from Klaus would have been useless and Stefan wasn’t even sure to want do it.  
Klaus couldn’t hurt him, or Eri.

“Watashi wa otōsan gomen’nasai. Watashi wa mada jūbun ni tsuyokunaidesu” (I’m sorry dad, I’m still not strong enough) said Eri with tears in her eyes, fearing to have disappointed her dad.

“Watashi wa anata ga subete no kenri o shite iru dakede ureshī, sukoshi kitsune” (I’m just glad you’re all right, little fox) answered Stefan holding her tighter.

Klaus had listen carefully their words and he was somewhat surprised to hear them talking in Japanese, especially so fluently. Of course he didn’t understand anything of their dialogue, except for one word “kitsune”. Where had he aver heard that word ? He couldn’t remember right there right now but he would inform about it.   
But now he was even more suspected of them. Stefan was a toddler vampire, who didn’t want to take any side in his conflict against Marcel, for now. But he couldn’t know his true nature, he didn’t know why he was there, what he wanted, what were his main goals. Klaus couldn’t take any risk, so he decided to put Stefan to the test.  
Stefan kissed Eri forehead then he noticed that Klaus didn’t kill the other vampire and he was curious to know why.   
The strangest thing was that, even now they were out of the club, he still couldn’t feel his sins, why ?   
He couldn’t feel Hope or Eri’s sins because they were children and they’ve never killed anyone. But what about Klaus ? Why couldn’t he feel his sins ?

“Are you all right, love ? You seem upset” said Klaus scrutinizing him carefully.

“I was… Why didn’t you kill him ? He’d tried to hurt your daughter” said Stefan with confusion.

“Because Momy don’t want him to kill in front of me. She said I’m too young to see such brutality” answered Hope hugging his father.  
  
“Oh… I’m sorry I didn’t…”

Bot Hope and Klaus laughed while Stefan wasn’t understanding them, at all. Eri dimly rolled her eyes. She was a kitsune, they couldn’t device her. She could feel that the mad had something in mind, something horrible against her Otōsan.   
The man, Klaus, didn’t like him, she could see the hatred and the irritation in his eyes and he would do everything it took to destroy every person he considered as enemy.   
And now… they were enemies for him.   
Klaus could feel the eyes of the little girl on him and he smirked.

“She’s a Mikaelson. She has seen worst.” said Klaus “But you asked a good question. I didn’t kill this scum because I want to interrogate him. He could be a good source of informations, love”.

“Why are you calling my otōsan ‘love’ ?” asked Eri crossing arms.

“Why are you calling your dad in that way ?” asked Hope crossing her arms too.

Stefan and Klaus found that situation hilarious. They daughters were two fighters and they were very protective towards their father. Eri was seriously irritating that someone called his otōsan ‘love’ in such a shameless way, instead Hope was irritated that someone talked to his father in that way.  
They stared at each other, looking right in the eyes with challenge. It was clear that the first who would have answered or looked down, have lost.  
Stefan decided to answer. He was still determinate to put some distance between him and Klaus, especially because he didn’t like being near someone who had the fame to be a destructive, selfless and psychopathic murder.

“Eri’s first language is Japanese. Now we have to go” said Stefan taking Eri’s hand.

“He hasn’t answered yet and you should kill the other vampire because I can fell that the blond block’s trying to device you” replied Eri with an annoying face.

“Don’t you dare calling my daddy that way !!” shouted Hope.

“You have a quite a temper, sweetheart. I guess you inherited it by your… otōsan. ”

“Musume, we have to go” said Stefan who was determinate to avoid a fight.

He was in a foul mood and he had the strong sensation that day was not going to get any better. Besides he had to find a way to communicate with Cade. He wanted to know why he couldn’t feel Klaus’ sins. He had to know because it’s never happened before and that was scaring him, a lot.   
And the fire which was running through his veins was devastating him.  
Besides he couldn’t risk that Klaus discovered his secret.

“Where are you going ? You’ve just killed one of Marcel’s army. Now you’re one of his enemies.” said Klaus taking Hope’s hand and following Stefan and Eri.

“I didn’t kill him because I’ve something wrong with Marcel. I killed him because he had attacked my daughter.”

“Do you think that Marcel would care about your reasons ? He will believe you’re on my side and he’s going to come for you and your daughter. In few words, you need my protection”

“No I don’t, neither Eri. And why should Marcel believe that I side on you ? There’s no proofs”

“Are you sure love ? Because that scum that I haven’t killed went away few seconds ago, while you were storming away from me. In your opinion, how long will it take him to tell the whole truth to Marcel ?”

Stefan stopped and looked at Klaus with an indignant look, while Eri was looking at him as she was saying “I told you, otōsan”.  
Stefan couldn’t believe that Klaus did that to him. Why ? Why was the hybrid so obsessed with him ? Why did he do that to him ?   
While Stefan was trying to find out Klaus’ reasons, Klaus was looking at the other.  
Klaus perfectly knew why he wanted Stefan at his side. He already didn’t have a good opinion about the toddler but now he liked him even less.   
Stefan was hiding something, he wasn’t the biological father of the little girl, even if they looked quite similar and they had the same green foster eyes, Klaus could feel that Stefan had adopted her.   
He also saw the little girl moving faster and being stronger than a normal human but she wasn’t a vampire, he could feel it too. He had been a vampire for a long time and he knew how to recognize other vampires.   
There were a lot of mysteries about the lovely pair and he wanted find them out and kill them if he had.   
He had no pity for anyone anymore. Not even children since his enemies had divided him from his lovely Hope.  
But if Stefan had proved to be useful in some way Klaus would have spared him.

“You’re not going to get my allegiance or my loyalty by this way. As I said, I don’t want to be involved in any war.”

“Well now you don’t have any choice. You know, I don’t ask things twice. I take what I want, when I want and I don’t give up until I don’t have it.”

“Listen me carefully, alpha male. I’m not going to take your side, accept it. I don’t want an troubles, neither Eri”

“I don’t think so. If you don’t help voluntarily, I swear, I’ll find a way to oblige you to”

“Brave words by someone who has been hiding in the shadow, behind a fame that means nothing anymore. You don’t scare me.”

“Don’t talk that way to my daddy, you brute” said Hope almost growling.

“Nǐ shì duì de, bàba. Wǒmen de zǒule.” (you were right, dad. We have to go)

Crap, Eri usually talked in Chinese with him only when she was really angry, it was a sort of silent code, and in that moment he was furious too.   
Klaus was thinking that he could set him up with Marcel but he was wrong.   
He was a Sinner Hunter, and for once in his life, he was glade to be in that way, so that no one in New Orleans could have hurt him or Eri without going in hell.  
No one, nor Klaus or Marcel could threaten him or Eri. No one.   
He took Eri’s hand and he turned his back to Klaus.

“You’re going to regret your decision, you know love ? When Marcel come for you, you’ll not be able to defeat him and regret not having accepted my proposal”

Klaus was furious, really furious. How did that tedious toddler deny him something ? How did he dare talking to him in that way in from of his daughter ?   
That little toddler didn’t have any idea of what he was capable of. Maybe he had lost his power but he was still the Original Hybrid and no one dared talking down to him in that way.  
Suddenly he was glad that Marcel was going to kill him and his daughter. He would laugh when the toddler passed through the pian and the tortures of Marcel’s army.  
‘You’ll regret not to have accepted my allegiance, idiot’.  
Stefan, on the other hand, couldn’t care less about Klaus, his tricks and Marcel’s vampire.   
He was thinking about how to get free of Marcel and his vampires without revealing his secret. Because he was sure there were going to come for his life. Marcel wanted all Klaus’ allies dead and now he was considered one of them.  
Damn Hybrid.  
For a moment he was tempted to come back to Klaus and let him burn in Hell’s flames. The only thing that was retrieving him from doing it was the curiosity he felt toward him and his immunity from his powers. No one, except Klaus, could hide his sins from him and he had to find out why. He couldn’t use his bracelet on them, so he had to change his modus operandi. But how ?

“Maybe you can rip them apart.” suggested Eri next to him.

“What ?” asked Stefan shocked for her proposal.

“Do you remember that time that a group of men tried to kidnap me ? In Monterey ? You ripped them apart. You were so furious that you didn’t even think about using the bracelet on them. Maybe you can do it again this time”

How could he forget ? He committed homicide and for a moment he truly thought to have risked to be damn in hell forever. Nevertheless, Cade didn’t come to take his soul away, probably because he didn’t loose his humanity, because he felt regret and guilty for what he had done, he wasn’t proud of what he did, of his new alias “Ripper”.   
He had still a human heart, with feelings and morals they had saved him from hell. Since that time Stefan had been even more careful about his actions and thoughts. But now he would kill again, he would commit homicide and he was scared.

“Yes well, the only though that someone’d dared to hurt you makes me loose control. But then I feel guilty. I’ve felt guilty that time too, in fact I recomposed them.”

“So recompose them too. But it’s the only way. It may is a macabre scenario but I can absorb their pain, so they won’t suffer and I can absorbed yours too. Perhaps alleviate you guilt.” suggested Eri too quiet.

Stefan knew her too well to understand that she was furious almost as he was and when she was in that way, she concentrated her anger inside her heart, only to use it to increase her powers at the right moment. Probably when Marcel and other would come for them. But they didn’t have to worry. They would figure it out a solution, like they alway had.  
The two of them came back in their apartment, trying to decide what to do, how to resolve the entire situation and in the end they both decide not to hunt that night.   
Stefan took off his bracelet and he gave it to Eri, telling her not to wear it.   
Then they decided to split up.  
So during the night, Stefan was walking alone in the French Quarter, while Eri was following him in the shadow.   
At some point, two vampires was going toward him, two from his right, two from his left, and other two were following him behind.   
Stefan smiled. History speaking, supernatural creatures were so predictable sometime. He was funny actually.   
He wasn’t killing for job and maybe it would be cathartic for him ripping their apart like old dolls. His hands were trembling for reducing them in thousand pieces.

Stefan stopped then he shouted “Bonsoir, messieurs !! How can I help you ?”

I one second, their King, the infamous Marcel Gerard appeared in front of him, while he was grabbing Eri’s arm, without tightening him.  
’So this is the new Super Vampire” thought Stefan with irony. He was an handsome pit-bull face, and just like a dog he seemed ready to detach his neck bites.   
Stefan could feel his sins very clearly. He killed his father by compelling him to carve out his own heart with a knife, then he and Klaus’ sister summoned Mikeal, to scare Klaus away and persuade him to abandon New Orleans, so they could stay together, Mikael attempted to kill him but he survived and he established a leadership rose in the French Quarter, he killed Guerrera Family and he cursed the Crescent Wolf Clan to prevent them from defeating him. Then he ruled like an anarch over the witches to control them, with the help of another young witch, his adopted daughter.   
These a lot of more sins Stefan could feel and he smiled.   
He knew Marcel Gerald only for few second and he already know everything about him.  
He was the Beast, the horrible beast, always angry and upset, arrogant and reckless. The only thing he cared for was revenge on Mikaelson, but due to his arrogance he was tricked again.

"Welcome to New Orleans" said Marcel with coldness "Is her your daughter ?"

"Do you want to know so you can use her against me ?" asked Stefan with irony.

“I usually don’t hurt children, but I noticed you’re beautiful princess and I don’t want her to see her daddy die tonight. Sorry man, but you chose the wrong side”

“I didn’t mean, but your vampire was hurting my daughter. I don’t regret to have kill him”

“Yes, I’m sorry for this. It’s father’s duty to protect their children. So I forgive you but remains an empty place in my army anyway, because of you. So, this is my condition. You choose my side and live, or you refuse and my vampires will kill you”

“And my daughter ?”

“I will let her go and mourn you. As I said, I don’t hurt children. It is cowardly” answered Marcel while melancholy appeared in his eyes.

Stefan felt pity for him, but he didn’t want be on his side. He didn’t want to fight for him or anyone else. No one of them could defeat him, neither Marcel The Beast, and he was ready to fight.

“I’m sorry… Eri. We’ll see later, maybe” answered Stefan kissing his daughter on her cheek.

“Zhīhòu, babà” answered Eri

“You made the wrong choice. Come one, little girl. This isn’t the right place for you”.

Marcel took Eri away, leaving Stefan alone surrounding by his vampires.   
Stefan smiled. Maybe he had developed a killer side inside him but, whatever it was, it was making feel excited at the idea of ripping all of them apart.   
The other idiots attacked him at the same time.   
Stefan could feel that all of them were older than him. The youngest one was 220 years old. Not bad.   
A vampire grabbed him from his shoulder but Stefan got free by breaking and then tearing out his arms with all his strength. The vampire screamed for pain, but Stefan kicked his legs and broke them at the same way. The body of the vampire fell on the floor.   
Stefan was going to remove the head from the neck when another vampire punched him in the face and another kicked him in the stomach.   
Stefan grabbed his leg and pulled it with all his strength, removing it from his body. Then, quickly as he could, he pulled the other leg too and then Stefan ripped his heart out of his chest.   
The vampire who had punched him in the face surrounded his neck with an arm, probably trying to snap his neck, but Stefan got free easily and ripped his arm, then he kicked him in the stomach, separating in two his body and then removing his head two.   
He continued so all the night, pulling, braking and ripping apart every limb, every part their perfect immortal body.   
While he was killing the last vampire, he heard some steps behind of him.

“Nǐ zuòle shénme ?Wǒ èle !” (Are you done ? I’m hungry)

“Not yet, I have to recompose them”.

“I suggest to do it somewhere else than street. At least you don’t want to provocate a scandal, otōsan. The King, Marcel, went away. He’s convinced you’re dead by now”

“Then I guess I have to prepare an appropriate surprise for him… and the hybrid too. I’ve known both of them for only a day and they already pissed me off. Both of them. Incredible.”

“Me too. May I suggest a place where recompose them ?”

“Go on. I’m all hears”

Eri smirked then she whispered something in her otōsan’s hear and then Stefan smirked too.   
She had a wonderful idea. They took the part of vampires’ body and then recompose them in the predefined location.  
Stefan used vampires’ blood to write something on the wall and then he smirked.  
“Fuck you, idiots”  
Then he and Eri went hunting. It was two hours before dawn, with a little luck, they could still find a sinner to kill.  
Eri gave him back the bracelet and then she absorbed the pain.   
She did again when they came to church to pray after having killed other three sinners before the dawn.  
They were both exhausted but Stefan needed to go to Church. He had killed a lot of people that night and not only for his deal with Cade. He killed all that vampires and he enjoyed it and the worst part was that he couldn’t regret even if he was trying to.   
So he prayed God for his should, he prayed for being forgiven, he prayed for his soul… he prayed for being saved.  
At some point shame and regret filled his heart and tears appeared in his eyes, so Eri grabbed his hand, without stop praying, to install courage in him.  
‘God, she deserves so much better by me’ thought Stefan hugging his musume in arms.  
When they finished to pray, Stefan accompanied Eri to the apartment so she could rest a little, instead he had another place to go.

…

During the same night, Klaus was doing some research about Stefan and Eri. He was in his room at Mikaelson Mansion, he was sitting on the bed and he had his laptop on his knees. He was doing researches about kitsune, hoping to find something interesting about them.   
Unfortunately the biggest part of sites he visited talked about anime, manga or series tv characters but all of them described kitsunes as creature who possessed a demon fox, a Kyuubi inside of them and that existed various categories of kitsune.   
That informations didn’t satisfy him, at all. He needed to know more about this kind of supernatural creatures.  
He’s heard about them before but he believed that they were legends. Maybe he was wrong.  
He went out his bedroom and went to Elijah’s study.  
His brother was reading some books, trying to find a way to tear down Marcel.   
They were at a distinct disadvantage, because even if they can use werewolf’s venom to kill Marcel’s vampires, it wasn’t still enough to kill the Beast once and for all.  
They couldn’t even accede to Ancestral Dimension to take more power to use against him so if they didn’t find a solution they would lost the war sooner or later.

“Hello Elijah. Found something interesting ?” asked Klaus entering without knocking.

“No yet, I’m not even close to find it.” answered Elijah closing the book abruptly.

“Damn it. Time’s running out and we are still at the starting point.”

“I know. Hayley had spent five years finding a cure to save all of us and she had payed a terrible price. But we don’t have five years, we must act, and quickly”.

“And we need more allies.” whispered Klaus looking at his brother with an intense look.

Elijah narrowed his eyes. He knew his brother too much not to recognize that look. His brother had something in mind. Maybe he met someone who could help them, an ally.  
But Elijah had a bad sensation about it. He had met a lot of allies and “friends” of Klaus during that years, Marcel… Genevieve… Lucien… Aurora… and all of them at the end had hurt his family.   
They were already in a delicate position and even the slightest mistake would have been enough to kill them all and forever.

“Niklaus… What are you planning to do ?”

“Protecting my family, Elijah. From everyone and everything but I have the strong suspicion and fear that someone else, a part from Marcel, could hurt all of us.”

“Now you’re scaring me” said Elijah getting up and coming closer to his brother “Who are you talking about ?”

“I… met someone today. He’s a toddler vampire. He said that he doesn’t want take any side, that he doesn’t want have any problem but I didn’t trust. I set him up and I’m sure that by now, Marcel was making him an offer.”

“So ? If he’s a vampire, he will be not different from any other member of Marcel’s army. A bit of poison will kill him as anyone else”

“It’s not all, Elijah. He has a daughter and I’ve some suspicious that she is… peculiar.”

“Do you think he had turned a children into a vampire ? It would be blasphemous. Marcel would kill him immediately. You know he has a strong sense of protection toward children”

“I don’t think she’s a vampire, Elijah. I think she may be a kitsune”

“Sorry what ?” said Elijah blinking incredulous.

Did kitsune really exist ? Elijah thought they were a legend. He’d never met one of them and he’s been living for over one thousand years. Because of this he’s never had any interests about them. Why was his brother interested in them ?   
They were in war so why wasting their time in that way ?   
He knew his brother better than anyone, he knew that when Klaus made questions about something he had good reasons so, whatever it was, his brother had something in his mind.

“What do you want to know about kitsune ?” asked Elijah

“I need to know how to recognize them, their strengths and their weaknesses, everything. If my suspect are correct, we’ll have the opportunity to form an allegiance with one of them” answered Klaus getting out from the studio before Elijah could have asked more questions.

Klaus want to his daughter bedroom, knowing that she was still awake. He told her that he would have read some something to her that night so he knew she was waiting for her.   
She had risked a lot that day. She told him she had escaped home to look for him when two vampires attacked her. It was a luck that the other girl helped her.   
Klaus didn’t want hurt her, or her father, but after what he went through he had become paranoid more than ever.  
If the girl was a kitsune and if her and her father had bad intentions, Klaus had to know everything about them to defend himself and his family.

…

Stefan couldn’t wait to see the face of the Beast and the Hybrid when they would arrived there and see the beautiful surprise he had prepared for them. He had accompanied Eri home, he took a shower, he changed his clothes and went out home again.  
He arrived at St. James Infirmary and he saw that the only person here was a surprised barmaid, Sylvia, if he remembered correctly her name, who looked at him as he was completely crazy.

“You did this, didn’t you ?” asked with surprise and fear.

“Do you like it ? I do, a lot” answered Stefan sitting down at one table to enjoy the show “Can you do me a favor ? Can you call both the king and the hybrid dick ? I want to know their opinion about my artwork”.

“You already sentenced yourself to death, you know that honey ? It’s a shame, you’re really handsome”

Then she called both Marcel and Klaus, asking them to come over there because.  
Stefan tried to stop himself from bursting out. Maybe the girl was thinking he was completely crazy and maybe he was. Maybe all that years spent in the darkness, with one foot in the flames of hell, made him crazy, truly crazy.   
But he couldn’t care less.   
Marcel and Klaus throw the first stone, he had only responded. They didn’t have any idea of what he was capable of, not even Stefan wasn’t completely aware of it. His powers has been increasing since the day he made a deal with Cade, he’s been changing every single day, sometime in worst, sometime in better.   
He didn’t belong hell, not yet, but he wasn’t completely safe.  
He knew he should have left New Orleans. Marcel and Klaus were not going to give him respite, they would push him to kill, over and over again to protect him and Eri.  
Stefan couldn’t kill all that people without using his bracelet, it would be homicide. But on the other hand he couldn’t leave the city without knowing why he couldn’t feel Klaus’ sins, without knowing why Klaus was so different from the other sinners.  
Maybe Stefan was only forcing himself into believe in something that maybe it wasn’t even real, but if Klaus was his soul to save he wouldn’t waste the opportunity to save his soul and be free of Cade.   
In that moment Marcel and Klaus entered in the bar and Stefan though ‘It’s time to get this party started’. 


	4. Rippah

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stefan, for protecting his daughter and his own life, had killed eight vampires of Marcel' army ripping them apart, but if Marcel understood that he should stayed away from him, Klaus remained truly impressed by his skills and he was determinate to get his allegiance.  
> Stefan, on the other hand, was determinate to get Klaus' trust in the hope that him could be his soul to save.

CHAPTER 4

  
When Marcel and Klaus arrived they were surprised to see the other in the same place.   
Stefan understood why. They passed to be son and father to two mortal enemies, who wanted nothing more than destroying the other. They both had a destructive attitude toward themselves and everyone around them and Stefan were surprised that they hadn’t destroyed each other yet with their own hands.  
Stefan studied them and he understood that Marcel and Klaus were similar, a lot. In the end, Klaus won everything, he turned Marcel into his own reflection, a poor imitation of the former King of New Orleans and when the hybrid would win the war, Marcel would have nothing left in their hands, but his resentment and anger and the consciousness of having failed in everything.   
Stefan repressed a laugh and enjoyed the show.  
Marcel could have killed him in that exactly moment but his attention had been caught by the macabre scenario in from of his eyes.  
His vampires had been disposed in the bar, with their lib recomposed, sat on the chair, with their heart in their hand and they faces painted with their blood.  
Jerk, idiot and other “compliments” were written on their face but it was another writing on the wall who truly made Marcel pissed “For Marcel the Beast… Don’t bother The Ripper anymore or the next chair in this bar will be painted with your blood”.  
Marcel’s body was shaking completely and Stefan could see his veins protruding from the neck and temples.   
Marcel could barely remember the last time he felt so furious toward someone. How did that piece of junk dare this to him ? Humiliating him in that way in front of his worst enemy ? Reducing in that way his family ?   
He wanted to kill him… he wanted to tear that stupid toddler apart as he had done with his friends.  
Instead Klaus, at his side, was really… impressed, in a positive way. He looked at the body with admiration, he was pleased, he was almost glad for what he was seeing. As he hadn’t ever seen anything more beautiful than that in his life.

“Magnificent…” Klaus whispered and Stefan heard him.

Stefan’s heart lost a beat. Did Klaus really think that he was magnificent ?   
He felt flattered and… happy, maybe. He didn’t expect that kind of reaction from the hybrid. He expected Klaus to be furious because he little plan of scaring him and putting him against Marcel, but Klaus didn’t seem angry, or disappointed or anything. He was enchanted bye his artwork and Stefan was happy for this.   
He was still anger for what Klaus had done to him, but Stefan couldn’t deny that he was glad to have caught his attention.

“So… gentleman, are you enjoying the show ? I hope so. I spent the entire night preparing this for you” said Stefan capturing their attention.

Marcel looked at him as he was going to eating him alive “How did you dare going this to them ? You…”

“Beast ? No, this is you. I’m the Ripper and you had been unfair with me. All of these people were so much older than me, it has been a challenge killing all of them. Thank you”

“How could you ? I was sure that…”

“Yeah, I know”.

Stefan stood up, then he came closer to one of the death vampire. He put his finger on his face, where he had written something, then he passed his fingers on the written.

“I had told you not to underestimate me, you Beast” then Stefan passed the fingers on Marcel’s mouth “The next time you dare to threat me or my daughter… I’m going to rip you apart”

Then Stefan kissed Marcel on the lips, licking the blood on them with his tongue.  
Marcel of course didn’t kiss him back but Stefan didn’t mind it. He didn’t want to be kissed back, not by Marcel, at least.  
Klaus looked at him as he was completely crazy and he couldn’t deny that he was feeling a little jealous seeing his new interest kissing another man, especially one of his enemies.   
He was going to push Marcel away from Stefan, but the Stefan stopped to kiss him.

“You’re suck at kissing…” then Stefan compelling him by whispering some words in Chinese “Cóng xiànzài kāishǐ, nǐ, nǐ jiāng wúfǎ shānghài dào wǒ hé wǒ de nǚ'ér. Nǐ shènzhì bùnéng dòng yī gēn shǒuzhǐ duì wǒmen yǒushǐ yǐlái…” (from now on, you will be unable to do harm to me and my daughter. You can not even lift a finger on us ... ever)

Marcel blinked, without understanding Stefan’s words, not knowing what to do. He didn’t know Chinese, but he know that Stefan had compelled him. He was sure since he wanted to kill Stefan and rip him apart like him had done with his vampires but he found himself incapable of doing it.  
Whatever Stefan had said, it made Marcel incapable of harming him and now Klaus was even more determinate to get his allegiance.  
After that, Stefan smiled genuinely at Klaus and then he went away. The show was over and he wanted to come back home to his musume.   
Klaus couldn’t resist, he needed to know the guy, his secrets, everything so he followed him, ignoring the empty threats of Marcel about killing Stefan. Klaus knew Stefan had compelled him in Chinese and even if he couldn’t explain himself how it could be possible that Stefan had been able to compel Marcel in that way, but he didn’t care in that moment.  
Following Stefan and talking to him was everything that matter.  
Who was that wonderful murderer ? Who was the magnificent Rippah ? Where did he come from ?   
He wanted him, he wanted his allegiance because no one who stood up against Marcel or his vampires survived until that moment, no one except Stefan Salvatore.   
He still felt irritated and suspicious toward the guy bot now he was more willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, since Stefan clearly refused to side with Marcel and also killed few of his vampires.

“Hey, wait !” Klaus said following Stefan “How did you compel Marcel ? You can’t be stronger than him”

“My daughter’s safety was worth a try. I don’t think it worked anyway” said Stefan continuing to walk.

“We’ll se. But you proved to have many useful talents, Rippah.” said Klaus giving him a pat on the back.

“God, your British accent makes me dizzy.” commented Stefan unwittingly.

He didn’t want to say that. He’s always been a shy guy, always bad at flirting, indeed his first approach with Katherine had been a great disaster. Katherine laughed at him and at his inexperience but then she kissed him and he forgot it anyway.  
After becoming a Sinners Hunter he tried to avoid any kind of feeling or romantic involvement with anyone, so he had remained the shy guy, bad at compliments and flirty things.  
He was also sure he was blushing in that moment.

“Geez, you do know how to make a boy feel special” joked Klaus finding the other’s embarrassment hilarious.

“Please, forget anything. I… I didn’t mean that your accent is ridiculous is just… I like it, very much. Well, not much much… what I want to say is…”

Klaus bursted to laugh and then he said “It’s quite obvious you don’t socialize too much and surely you’re better to kill than to talk. I don’t mind it actually. What I need it’s a good killer.”

“Listen me up, Klaus, I’ve already told you…”

“Yes, yes, you don’t want have any troubles and blah blah blah. Of course I’m not going to insist on that. I don’t want you to rip my pack or my family. I’ve already few people on my side I don’ want loose more. But… I’ve another proposal I wish you considered”

“To abandon New Orleans without coming back ? Sorry, but I don’t fear bullies like you and Marcel.”

“Bully ? It’s a compliment compare with all my other nicknames. But not. I don’t want you to go away. I was proposing my friendship.”

Stefan looked at him with an incredulous look. Klaus Mikaelson, the same dick who had put Marcel against him, was offering his friendship to him, a common vampire, who had already kissed his worst enemy in from of his eyes, without past and probably any future, who had already called him “bully”.  
Was it a trap ? It could be after all. But Stefan needed to be close to Klaus. He couldn’t feel his sins, he was different and he needed to understand why, without asking it to Cade.   
Cade wanted his soul, he would do everything to get and if Stefan told him everything about Klaus, Cade could have hurt Klaus and his family and subtract him the unique opportunity to save himself.  
So he needed to get close to Klaus.

“Listen, If I agree to be your friend… I want to make things clear since the started. One, my decisions are my decisions, so you’re not going to use compulsion to make me respect your will. Second, Me and Eri have nothing against you or your family, so you won’t hurt us, okay ? Can you do this ?” asked Stefan.

Klaus was tempted to deny that stupid conditions. He was free of doing whatever he wanted, when he wanted and how he wanted and if someone didn’t obey to him he was completely free to use compulsion to make him respect his will. Stefan Salvatore should have only accepted his friendship in silence, but then reality remembered him, as every single time, that he had lost everything. That he was no longer a King, Marcel demoted him.  
He had no friends anymore, no more certainties, no more power… his life crumbled between his fingers without him could do nothing to prevent it.   
He was alone, completely and utterly alone.  
Stefan noticed that Klaus’ eyes became darker, which meant he was suddenly sad about something. Sad and embittered.

“I’m sorry you’re sad” he whispered.

Klaus looked at him with confusion “Why are you saying that ?”

“I’m just… good at observing people. You’re eyes are darker, but not like yesterday when you looked at me as you were going to remove my head from the neck. You’re sad, because maybe I’m the first friend you have after a long time and now you understand how much alone you really feel. Yes, you have your family but family’s not alway made you happy like would have wanted.”

“You don’t know me.” said Klaus calmly with an implicit threat.

Klaus was really hating the other guy in that moment, he hated him so much that he would like to kill him. He wanted to kill the toddler because he said the truth and he said it without any hesitation. Because he was one of the few people who didn’t have any fear to tell him the bluntly the true, but was also one of the few people Klaus would have put it up with his lies better.   
Klaus wanted to kill him because Stefan was talking to him calmly, without any intentions of hurting him or offending him, he just said what he needed to said without any second intension. Stefan remembered Camille…   
They had both green eyes, even if the green of Stefan’s eyes was darker and something was suggesting Klaus that he used to be blond when he was younger.  
Klaus felt motion tenderness toward him but then he remembered about Camille’s death and his gaze hardened again.  
Stefan noticed and not wanting fight he quickly apologize.

“I’m sorry. I had a busy night, I’m feeling like I got an hangover. But if you want me to be your friend I’ll be happy, really. We started with the wrong step but that doesn’t mean that we can’t start again. What do you think ?” asked Stefan reaching out his hand.

“I think that I have to be really desperate to accept it” answered Klaus holding other’s hand.

“Don’t say this. We’re going to have a lot of fun together.”

“Maybe. Are you busy tonight ?” asked Klaus.

“Yes. I… promised Eri to stay home. There’s a movie she wants to watch on TV and she made me promised her to stay home tonight.”

Stefan wanted to slap himself. He was so bad at lying, everyone told him and he wish Eri was there with him. She was a better liar than him and she would have made up something better but he panicked. He couldn’t tell Klaus that he and Eri were going hunting sinners tonight, as always and he couldn’t take the risk that Klaus found out their secrets.

“About Eri, what is she exactly ?” asked Klaus bluntly.

And that was another thing Stefan wanted to hide from Klaus. Vampires and werwolves usually didn’t get along with kitsunes, because they were too different from both of them. Kitsunes were immortal, but don’t drink blood, don’t need a day right to getting out during the day, they had an animal demon inside of them and they could turn themselves in foxes but foxes weren’t wolfs.  
If someone had found out the truth about Eri, she would have been in danger, because of this he had to protect her not matter what.

“I don’t want to talk about her, not here a few steps from Marcel. Maybe another time we’ll share some of our secrets. Just not here, not now”

“Yeah. Maybe another time. I’m going to be busy tonight too. There will be another fight tonight so it’s good that you and your daughter had decided to stay home, so you won’t be involved in the conflict”

“So, now you want me out of your conflict against Marcel ? This is the reason why are you warning me about tonight ?”

“It was on of your conditions, love. I’m only accepting your will”

Stefan bitted his lower lip. He may couldn’t feel Klaus’ sins but he could sense that the hybrid had something in mind.   
Klaus didn’t trust him and Stefan couldn’t blame him for it after all the situations he’d been thought. Stefan himself had great difficulty in trusting people so he could recognize someone with his same issues when he met.  
Klaus knew he was hiding something from him, a dark secret that could have damaged him or his family, because he wasn’t a fool; but he didn’t know that Stefan had been living as a shadow for a long time, that he had spent a long time observing and studying people, learning how to recognize when someone was lying to him, or had something in mind, or when someone was nervous, happy, sad…   
Klaus was a good player but if he thought to beat Stefan at his game he was going to loose.  
Feeling Klaus’ gaze on him, Stefan hurried to change argument.

“Why are you calling me love ? I bet you call in this way everyone” he joked laughing.

“It’s true. I like calling everyone love. Is it a problem for you ?” asked Klaus serious.

“No, I’ve only to get use to it. You can call me like you want.” answered Stefan shrugging.

Stefan got used with nicknames over the years. People called him “Ripper”, “Sinner Hunter”, “Monster”, the list was pretty long and for not counting all the nicknames Damon used to call him with.

“Good. See you around. I’m going to be very busy today but tomorrow we can meet somewhere and talk. What do you think ?”

“It will be amazing. See you tomorrow”

Stefan started to walk away when Klaus asked him again “Excuse, can you tell me what movie will you see ? Maybe I can see it with my daughter too”

“I don’t think so. You’ll be out tonight, you’re not going to see it anyway” said Stefan without turning around, so he could avoid to look Klaus in the eyes.

‘Yes, go away. But your secrets will be mine… I can promise it to you’ Klaus though following Stefan with his gaze.   
No, he couldn’t trust of the toddler, he had something, a darkness made of secrets and lies, behind his angelic eyes and sweet smiles that were warning Klaus to keep constantly an eye on him.  
Klaus admired, hated and feared that guy with equal measure. He admired Stefan for what having defeated Marcel’s vampires and having refusing to fight for him against his family; he hated him for the things he had said about him, especially because Stefan read him easily and all the things he said were true and Klaus couldn’t accept it, especially because it reminded him Camille and she was still a painful memorie for him; and he feared him for what Stefan had done to Marcel. Stefan had literally compelled Marcel The Beast, something that not even him, The Original Hybrid, wasn’t capable of doing anymore.   
Stefan could deny it how much he wanted, but Klaus recognize when someone was using compulsion on someone else. He also killed all that old vampires and ripped them apart.   
How old could Stefan be ?   
It wasn’t envy, okay, Klaus had to admit that he was a little envy, but one final true remained, Stefan was hiding something from him and he would find it out.  
“See you later, Rippah”.

…

Stefan closed the door of his apartment behind his shoulder, sighing of relief.  
It had been a long, long, night-day and he was exhausted. Along the way, he went to wood to hunt some animals, because he was hungry, dangerously hungry. He ate some rabbits and then he came back home. He knew it wasn’t wise indulging in the woods, especially when the risk to encounter some werewolves was high but he couldn’t avoid to eat.  
His diet was already hard to follow. Animal blood was bitter, unappetizing and it didn’t satisfy it as the Human blood. But it was the only “food” he was allowed to eat without violating his deal with Cade.   
“I’m so tired…” Stefan though locking up the door.  
The apartment where he and Eri stayed was little, it had four five rooms, a little living room and the kitchen in one room, two bedroom, so him and Eri could have more personal space and one bedroom.   
It wasn’t a luxury hotel but they had learned to be content with little.

“Welcome back, Bà.”

Stefan closed his eyes, Eri had called him Bà, she was speaking Chinese which meant she was angry with him. Completely understandable. Stefan spent a lot of time hunting in the wood, losing track of time.  
Eri had all reasons to be worry for this, especially after having humiliated Marcel and his vampires.  
The King of New Orleans couldn’t hurt him, or Eri, but his vampires could and Klaus had strong suspects about him and Eri.  
If they weren’t careful they would have been killed.  
She was sitting on the couch with a book in her hand and she was looking at him with a stern look.

“Watashi wa, watashinojinsei no hana gomen’nasai” he said in Japanese, kissing his musume forehead (I’m sorry flower of my life)

“Where have you been ?” asked Eri still grudging at him.

“I met Marcel and Klaus at bar, I compelled Marcel so he can’t hurt us and then I accepted Klaus’ friendship”

“Nǐ zěnme kěnéng? Tā tíchū jīngguò jìn shā sǐ wǒmen?” asked Eri shouting and letting the book on the couch and stoop up on the couch.  
(How could you ? After did he make almost kill us ?)

“Please, Eri, he has already some suspects about us. He was impressed of me after seeing what I’m capable of but he’s scared too. He knows I’m hiding something and he’s not going to give me rest until he won’t find it out”.

“Another reason to stay away from him, Bà. He’s dangerous and he wants to hurt you. Maybe he can device anyone but not kitsune. Bà, I swear, yesterday I saw the hatred in his eyes when he looked at you. You need to stay away from him, please Bà” said Eri taking his hands.

Stefan was surprised. Eri’s never behaved so, she was torn, scared and alarmed. Maybe what happen with Marcel had scared her more than Stefan thought.  
He hugged her and caressed her hair.

“Eri, there’s something I haven’t told you yet.”

“Now do you also have secrets with me ?” asked Eri with tears in her eyes.

“No, it’s something that I couldn’t tell you before, but now I can and I want you to listen me carefully”

Stefan kissed her forehead and he sit on the couch next to her, still hugging her and caressing her hair.

“I can’t feel Klaus’ sins. I don’t know why, but he’s the only one immune to my powers and I think it’s not a coincidence”

“Do you think he could be the soul to save ? It’s impossibile. I saw his heart and it’s full of darkness, hatred, embitters, cruelty and regrets. He’s incapable of saving himself, how could he save you from hell ?” asked Eri with distrust.

“Maybe it’s the point. His soul deserves to burn in hell but maybe for… someone he deserves to be saved. After all, all the bad things he had done, he had done for his family…”

“… And for power. He has great delusion of grandeur. He takes what he wanted when and how he wants and he doesn’t care about hurting other”

“… He’s broken, Eri. He’s broken beyond repair, apparently and he’s the only one whose sins remain a mystery for me. Maybe you’re right, maybe I’m just deluding myself but… It could be my only chance to be saved and I don’t want to waste it”

Eri closed her eyes and held his Otōsan tighter. She knew he was suffering for his condition, a lot. He was tired of being a Sinner Hunter, he was tired of killing in Cade’s name, tired of that life, tired of being a shadow.  
Eri wanted a better life too. She was tired of changing city almost every month, not having friends, having fear to loose her otōsan every single day.  
She wanted a new life, but she feared the price for their happiness.   
She didn’t want Klaus Mikaelson in their lives, not after what he had done to them last night. He was threatening their lives and he was an heartless man who would ruin her otōsan forever.

“I get it. But… be careful. I don’t trust him but if you think he could be the one then I’m going to help you, as always. You’re my family. Watashi wa, otōsan ga anata o aishite” (I love you, dad)

“There’s something else”

“What ?” asked Eri taking again the book in her hand.

“There’s going to be a fight tonight between Marcel and Klaus. It’s a good opportunity to hunt in piece without the fear to be interrupt or discovered but…”

“If you’re suggesting that I should stay home because it would be safer for me, I say no” said Eri

“Eri. Klaus asked me about you, okay ? He knows you’re not a vampire but I want him and Marcel far away from you, okay ? You can absorb my pain when I’ll come back home”

“But we’ve always hunted together” Eri replied.

“I know, okay ? I’m only trying to protecting you. I have to get Klaus’ trust before, I have to be careful that he has no bad intentions toward you and only then we’re going to hunt together. But only when I’ll be sure that it’s safe for you”.

Eri threw the book on the couch and then she went to her bedroom.   
Stefan sighed. She was angry with him and again he couldn’t blame her but he couldn’t risk her safety.  
Marcel could order his vampires to hurt her, Klaus had suspects about her and he made ambiguous questions.  
Eri was his life and he had to protect her from everyone. She told him she was four hundred years old but she hadn’t got her fight tail yet, Klaus was older than her, Marcel was the Beast, and everyone knew that werewolves hated kitsunes as much they hated vampires.   
So he was going to hunt alone tonight, also because he wanted to see the fight between Marcel and Klaus.  
He wanted to see with his eyes what Marcel and Klaus were capable of.

…

Klaus, Elijah, Hayley and Freya were planning their tactics for tonight. They were going to fight against Marcel in the Abattoir, where no one would have interrupted them.   
Elijah was proposing to prepare some vervain and some werewolf venom to use against them.   
They could also count on Freya and her magic, while they knew that Marcel had no witch at his side.  
He prohibited them to use their powers, so a part of them left New Orleans, another part was ganging up on Marcel again.  
Freya was trying to obtain their allegiance but Vincent was keeping an eye on her.   
She knew that Vincent wanted her death, but she also knew that he wouldn’t tolerate for longer Marcel’s tyranny.  
Sooner or later Vincent would abandoned Marcel forever.

“Maybe I should put a protection spell on you before the fight…” was proposing Freya.

“The problem is not out safety, Freya. The problem is that we need to reduce their number. We have to elaborate a strategy to kill them all.” said Elijah.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea. Marcel can always made new vampires or call other people who have the intension on getting their revenge on us. We have to focus on kill Marcel once and for all.” said Hayley.

“Unfortunately, love, we are far away from finding a way to defeat the Beast. Witches don’t want to help us because they’re convince that they can defeat Marcel alone and Vincent is a spy of Marcel” said Klaus.

“Yes but we can’t stall much longer. My pack isn’t invincible and we had already lost a lot of them” answered back Hayley.

That was true. Werewolves were strong and Marcel couldn’t cure his vampires without Klaus’ blood but it was also true that he could create new vampires every single day, while werwolves couldn’t be recreate so easily.

“Maybe… we can create new vampires as well.” proposed Elijah “Your old bloodline is broken, Niklaus. But that doesn’t mean you can’t recreate a new one”

‘That’s true’, Klaus thought.   
He didn’t turn any one in a vampire since his old bloodline had been broken by Davina and Hayley prohibited him to turn the rest of their pack in hybrid.  
Klaus’s never thought about turning them, he learnt the lesson when Tyler ganged up on him with his other hybrids. They tried to kill him and his daughter for getting their revenge on him, since then he gave up the ambition to create an army of hybrids.   
When that tedious witch broke his bloodline too he gave up on creating new vampires too but he was still capable of doing it.   
And so Elijah and the other.

“Maybe we can train them, as Marcel. We didn’t fight in World War I but that we can fight as well and we can train the new vampires.” continued Elijah.

“How long it will take to train them ? We don’t have a lot of time” said Freya “I still don’t understand why Marcel had suddenly decided to fight against us tonight”

‘Nether I, this is what’s worrying me most’ Klaus thought.  
Marcel had declared his intention to fight against them yesterday evening, when he was going to kidnap Stefan for killing one of his vampire.  
Apparently, it wasn’t the first vampire killed during the last three day.   
Other vampires had “apparently” disappeared, only their clothes had been found covered with their ashes and Marcel blamed Klaus and his family for it.  
But Klaus didn’t have nothing to do with it. Burning people and reducing them into ashes wasn’t his favorite way of killing.  
It was too slow and noisy, because he was sure that vampires screamed until the last second.   
Whoever was killing them in that way or was brave or fool.

“Apparently someone’s killing his vampires burning them and reducing them in ashes. He blames us for it” said Klaus.

“Who is this fool ?” asked Freya stunned.

“If I knew now I would have given him to Marcel, but I have no idea”

Klaus thought about Stefan at the beginning, but now he wasn’t convinced anymore. Stefan was definitely a “Ripper” and a really talented one so he didn’t seem the type who burned people.  
There had to be another killer in New Orleans, another threat who killed who he wanted, without no rules and probably only for his own fun.

“He doesn’t kill only vampires in that way” said a voice behind them.

Elijah, Hayley, Freya and Klaus turned toward Kol who was leaning against the door frame with his arms crossed.

“I heard about this killer. He killed in these way humans too, so they say on TV”

“Why killing in this way humans and vampires ? What kind of creature is it ?” asked Hayley alarmed.

“I don’t know, but I remembered that a witch talked about some cruel Hunters who killed humans and supernatural creatures for fun. I don’t remember the story perfectly but I can get more information” answered Kol.

Kol was the one of the family who had spent more time with witches than everyone else so if there was someone who was able to discover more information about this mysterious killer was Kol.

“Be careful, okay ? It could be dangerous” said Elijah.

“When ever it is not ?” asked Kol with sarcasm while he was going away.

Klaus sighed. The tension and the distance between Kol and the rest of them was palpable. He hasn’t forgiven Elijah and Freya for what they had done to Davina.  
Klaus didn’t like Davina, at all, but he could understand Kol. He had lost Camille as well five years ago and the pain in his heart was still torturing him days and nights.  
What happened five years ago had procured a lot of wounds and scars in his family, some bonds emerged stronger, other were so delicates that it wouldn’t have taken much to destroy them.   
A wrong move, a wrong word… everything could destroy the delicate balance between his siblings.

“We have to create new vampires.” Klaus said diverting his mind from uncomfortable thoughts “Me and Hayley and her pack will fight Marcel tonight. Elijah, you’re going to create new vampires to train.”

“I don’t want let you and Hayley fight Marcel alone, please…”

“Marcel wants me, if I don’t go he will turn the entire New Orleans upside down to find me; and Hayley is the leader of her pack. They only fight for her. So, you’re the only one who can look for someone to turn in vampire”

“He’s right, Elijah. Marcel wants Klaus, because he’s the only remaining obstacle for him to become the absolute king of the city and he wants me and all the werwolves death for having chose to fight against him. If you don’t go he won’t even notice.” said Hayley begging the older vampire with her gaze.

Elijah nodded, even if it was clear he didn’t like that plan.  
Nevertheless Klaus was grateful for it, they needed more fighters to win the war.   
And that thought made him thinking about Stefan again, who was a Ripper and who defeated eight of Marcel’s vampires.   
Klaus knew that a Ripper was usually a sadistic vampire who enjoy abusing, dispatching and mutilating his victims, who belonged to category of emotion-less vampires that sometimes didn’t even need to have their emotions off. It was enough their love for murder and blood.  
Stefan maybe belonged to a category of Rippers who were also capable of humans emotion, such as compassion, love, protection, respect. In fact Stefan loved his daughter, so he hadn’t his humanity turned off, but still he had ripped apart eight vampires.  
Yes, Stefan was a Ripper with morals and emotions and Klaus needed him to fight in the war.  
Klaus needed of that wonderful Rippah, so he had to play his cards right and in the end. He had to become Stefan’s friend and after that doing whatever it took to make Stefan fight for him. Whatever it took…   
‘You’ll be mine… Rippah’


	5. The mysterious killer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stefan is determinate to protect Eri at any costs, so he decide to hunt alone tonight, especially because the Beast and The Former King of New Orleans are going to fight against each other again.   
> Although Stefan doesn't want to be involved in the fight, a part of him can't stop to be worry for Klaus...

CHAPTER 5

 

Stefan was observing people from a root. He was concentrating himself on their sins. He could feel the regret of a children for having told a lie to his mother, he could feel the satisfaction of a woman for having cheated on her husband without being discovered, he could feel the indifference of a man after having beaten his oldest son for having taken a bad grade in school. He could feel everything.  
At some point he felt the sins of a man, who kidnaped women and raped them in his house and then he killed them all.  
‘I kill you’, Stefan thought.   
He moved faster as a lamp, more fast than any other vampires, Marcel included, he grabbed the man from the crowd and he took him in the nearest dark alley.  
The man’s name was Matt Mills, he owned a restaurant chain in LA, he had a family and he was a raper. He raped and killed the first girl during his senior year in high school and since then no one have never found out his true nature.  
‘But now I’m going to stop him forever’  
Stefan killed him, he slipped the hand with bracelet inside Matt’s chest and he let that Hell’s Flames burned him.  
When Matt was completely covered by flames, Stefan ripped his heart out. which become ashes with the rest of his body.  
‘And this is done, who’s the next ?’, Stefan thought.

…

Klaus. Hayley and her pack were going to the Abattoir.   
They had prepared the vervain and their werwolf venom to use against Marcel and his vampire.

“Are you sure to want to follow the plan ?” asked Hayley a little uncertain.

“For the third time, yes I am.”

They had prepared some smoke grenade to throw against Marcel and his vampires. Klaus was going to go alone, Marcel would make his usual speak, blaming Klaus for everything went wrong in his life, for Davina’s death and blah blah blah and then he would throw a smoke grenade of Werewolf Toxin to kill the biggest part of vampires.   
Klaus was an hybrid so the Toxin wouldn’t hurt him. After that, Hayley and her pack would attack the rest of the vampires and Marcel.   
Klaus wan’t scared of going alone, he could handle a bunch of irritable vampires alone. He did it once, and he could do it again. Hayley didn’t need to be worry about him, he had no intention of being killed, especially now that he was reunited with his daughter.  
He hasn’t suffered for five years to be reunited with Hope only to die now, now that he could create a new life with his family.  
They arrived near the Abattoir, Hayley remained there to coordinate the rest of her pack, while Klaus went in the Abattoir, ready for the fight.  
As he expected, Marcel was sitting on a ridiculous throne, exactly like at his trial, and he was looking at Klaus as he was a piece of rubbish. Around him there were all his little vampires who were looking at the hybrid as he was going to be their best meal.  
Klaus smirked. He hated all of them with all his heart. He gave them the most precious gift they could have ever received, the immortal, and what did he get in return ?   
Five long years of pain, suffer and misery.

“Good evening everyone !” he said “I hope not to be late for our date”

“Why are you alone ? If you think to be enough to defeat all of us alone, I must say that I underestimated your arrogance” exclaimed Marcel.

“My arrogance ? Who plumped it ?” asked Klaus with a smirk “Your army is not efficient as you want everyone to believe.”

“My army is invincible, you’ll never be enough to defeat us”

“Curious because a toddler like the newcomer defeated all alone eight of your best vampires. What was his name ?”

Marcel stoop up as if it had been scalded, he looked at Klaus threatening him with his gaze, daring him to say one more word about that question, but Klaus completely ignored him.   
He had to gain time and also he wanted Marcel to loose dignity and credibility in front of everyone.  
He had learnt from his personal experience that power was based on how much people believed in you, in your power, in the words and promises you made, because if people lost faith in everything what you represented, you lost everything you got.  
Klaus had spent his whole life using violence, threats and strong measures to make everyone to believe that he was am heartless monster, that no one should have ever fought against him or his family.  
He had done terrible things in his life, but they were necessary to increase the myth of Klaus Mikaelson, the terrible Original Hybrid.   
No one has dared to hurt him for centuries but it was enough a a small crack for him to lose everything.   
If he could recreate that same crack, Marcel’s kingdom would have started to fall apart.  
So he continued.

“What was ? Let me think, Richard ? Joseph ? Carl ? Jack ? Oh… now I remember !! His name is Stefan Salvatore and yesterday he had killed eight of you, all alone. He ripped them apart and recomposed them publicly humiliating your King !!” said Klaus laughing “And… He still breath. Probably now he’s enjoying a good evening with some pretty girls !”

Marcel was shaking with rage, his hands were trebling for the need to strangle Klaus to death and without even realizing it his fangs had come out.   
Around him, the other vampires were looking at him in disbelief. They knew that Marcel sent eight of them to kill a newcomer and they were surprised when they hadn’t come back, now they understood why and they were surprised that Marcel had not avenged their dead comrades yet.  
Did he consider them nothing ? Or was he becoming weak ?

“Enough !!” Marcel shouted.

“Why Marcellus ? Why haven’t you killed him yet ? Do you have a little crush for him ? Did that kiss upset you ?”

Exclamations of surprise were scattered all around and Marcel closed his eyes for the shame.   
Was necessary mentioning that ?  
He understood what Klaus was trying to do, he was undermining the foundations of his reign by ridicule him. Klaus thought to be wily but he understood his stupid game.

“Happy now ? Can we start the fight ? I’m done with you, I’m really, really done with you”

“Believe me, Marcel, I’m more done than you”.

Then Klaus threw two grenades with Werewolf Toxin towards the vampires. Some vampires trying to cover their nose and mouth with one hand but the poison penetrate through the skin pores. Some vampires fell down on the floor, death, few of them escaped in time and they were ready to fight and Marcel, who had been taken by surprise, was ready to destroy Klaus forever.  
‘This is only the beginning’, Klaus thought.

…

Stefan was cleaning his trousers, trying to remove the ash of his last victim.   
Her name was Alexia Osborn. She was a twenty years old college student, a bully who was responsible for the suicide of three of her classmates in high school and one in college.  
She bullied them to the point to push them to kill themselves and she laughed for this and humiliated them on internet even after their death. Now she was bullying another girl with the intention of pushing het to attempt suicide but Stefan had killer her first.  
‘I’ve alway hated bully’, it was the last thing that Stefan told her before to kill her.  
She was the fourth victim of that night and Stefan was already tired of hunting.   
It was a little after 10 o’clock P.M. and it was too early to come back home. He had to hunt some other sinners.  
So he went away from the alley and he instead himself into the crowd that was beginning to decline.   
New Orleans wasn’t alive as once, people were scared to walk alone in the streets, the parties were decreased and the screams and fear had taken the place of laughs and happiness.  
It was like New Orleans was following Marcel and Klaus into an abyss of madness, desolation and darkness, in a never ending conflict that it could build a new balance or destroy what rested of a old dream.  
Stefan focused himself on the sins around him when he suddenly heard a scream.  
He got out from crown and he went in the direction from which the scream came from.   
If he was lucky, he’d found a killer, a raper or a robber; if he was very lucky he’d found a vampire who was drinking on someone.   
The soul of vampires valued more than a human ones.   
Nevertheless Stefan wasn’t prepared to see an Original vampire trying to turn a young boy into a vampire.   
Stefan’s never seen him but he knew he was an Original Vampire because they gave off a differ aura from an ordinary vampire.  
Stefan could feel all his sins…   
Elijah Mikaelson… guilty of not defending his brother against his father’s abuses, guilty of killing the woman he loved, Tatia, guilty of using compulsion on his brother first love to convince him of let her go, guilty of numerous murders committed through the centuries…  
Stefan sighed. He couldn’t kill an Original even if he was tempted, but Cade was firm about it, because killing an Original would have meant killing an entire bloodline of vampires. Stefan wondered for a moment if he belonged to Elijah’s bloodline. What if he killed Elijah ? Would he die with the rest of his bloodline too ? Would he be free of Cade forever ? Would he stop to kill sinners ? Would he have piece forever ? Or would he burn in hell forever ? Was a moment of madness worthy the risk of loosing his soul ?   
It would have enough just a moment, only a moment, to kill Elijah Mikaelson…  
The bracelet around his wrist burned his skin and he almost screamed for pain. That was a sign that Cade knew about his intention and that was an advertisement. Stefan forgot Cade was a psychic and that he didn’t have secrets for Cade.  
‘Let’s find another victim’, Stefan thought going away.   
Elijah realized the presence of someone else behind him, but when he turned he didn’t see no one.  
He was sure not to have imagined.  
Whoever was behind him, was powerful and probably dangerous, he or she had seen what he was doing and for a moment Elijah feared that was Marcel.  
But it couldn’t be. Marcel hated him and blamed him for Davina’s death, so if it was Marcel now Elijah would have been dead.   
Someone else was spying him before, but who ?  
A vampire of Marcel ?   
‘I have to come back home and take them the new vampires.’.  
It was the best thing he could do before doing some other unpleasant encounter with another spy.

…

Klaus and Marcel were fighting against each other. Marcel was slightly weakened due to Werewolf Toxin so he and Klaus fought on equal terms.   
Hayley and her pack were fighting against the other vampires.

“Why can’t you just let things be ?” asked Marcel hitting Klaus right in his face.

Klaus answered punching him.  
It was a good question actually. Why couldn’t he just take his family and go away from that bloody city ?   
Buying a Mansion in another place a building another empire somewhere else ?   
It was a beautiful fairytale, but that was the main problem. A fairytale is not real, a fairytale is a fantasy, it wasn’t real.  
The reality was that Klaus wanted revenge… that New Orleans was born from his desire of building a place where he could live happy with his family, it wouldn’t have existed if it wasn’t for him. New Orleans belonged to him and him alone.

“You have no right to rule New Orleans” answered Klaus hitting Marcel again.

“New Orleans is the city you like to say you built…” said Marcel “It’s mine”

“You’re wrong. You’ve never had anything in your life, you didn’t have a family, nor money, not even a name and who gave you all these things ? Me”

Klaus hit Marcel at his stomach, but then the Beast grabbed him for his throat and threw him against a wall.  
Marcel hated when Klaus reproached him all the things he had done for him. He hated remember his past, the boy who he used to be and the person he had become.   
Klaus created him and destroyed him as well. Marcel had nothing to be grateful for.

“Stop reproaching me my past !” ordered Marcel punching Klaus in his face, make him falling down.

Klaus laughed and then he said “Truth is inconvenient, right ?”

Klaus stood up and hit Marcel again, then he continued “You have nothing on your own. You had stolen everything from me and i’m going to take it back”

Marcel was going to attack him again but Klaus threw at him the last grenade of Werewolf Toxin he had. Klaus was going to rip his heart out of his chest, but then he noticed that Hayley was in trouble.   
Apparently other vampires came back at the Abattoir to help their friends and Marcel and they surrounded them.   
Marcel was screaming for Werewolf toxin, so Klaus snapped his neck and hurried up to help Hayley and her pack.  
When the other vampires saw their leader fainted on the floor, a part of them ran away, other instead remained and continued to fight.  
The night was still long, after all.

…

“Have fun in hell, James” Stefan said while Hell’s Flames were burning James Brown’s body.   
James Brown, a burglar and a contract killer. He was sent in New Orleans to commit an homicide but Stefan found him before he could complete his task.   
Brow was his seventh victim of the night and now Stefan could come back home.  
Seven victims were enough for one night.   
But before returning home, he was curious to see how the fight between Marcel and Klaus was going on.   
It wasn’t a good idea, he knew it but he wanted to be sure Klaus was safe.  
Marcel was a Beast now, he was the second most dangerous vampire after him now and even if Klaus was an Original Hybrid, Stefan wanted to be sure he was okay.  
He didn’t know why, but the only thought of Klaus made Stefan feel that strange sensation in his heart.   
He didn’t know if it was due to the fact that Klaus could be his soul to save or because of something else.   
He didn’t know where looking for him, so he focused on Marcel’s sins.   
He knew them already so he could easily recognize them.  
When he found Marcel, he went toward him.   
When he was close to Marcel he saw a group of vampires running away in the opposite direction of Marcel.   
‘What’s going on ?’ Stefan wondered.  
He could feel Werewolf Toxin nearby but he was immune to it so he came closer.   
He jumped on the roof and he saw Klaus and another woman, an hybrid, fighting against some vampires and he saw other vampires on the floor, lifeless, probably killed by the Toxin.  
Marcel was fainted on the floor, but he was recovering and he would attack Klaus from the rear.   
Stefan could feel it. Marcel was done with Klaus and he wanted him death at any costs.   
Stefan had to do something.   
At some point a dangerous idea formed in Stefan’s mind. It was risking but he had to try.  
He was three vampires who were escaping from the house, so he followed them and then he killed them using the bracelet to imprison their souls in hell.  
The three vampires screamed so loud while their souls were burning that they caught the attention of Klaus,, Hayley, Marcel, the werewolves and the vampires who were still fighting.   
Stefan, whose face was completely hidden under his hood, remained there until the vampires’ bodies were reduced into ash.   
When he heard other came closer he hide himself, observing from the shadow the reactions of everyone.   
When Klaus and Hayley saw the ash and the singed clothes on the street they exchanged a glance. They talked about that man few hours ago with the rest of family, he was the man who killed his victims burning them and reducing their bodies into ash. So he or she was real ? There actually was a killer who burned his victims and who was creating panic in New Orleans. Was she or he a threat for their family ? Did he or she have intention of killing all the supernatural creatures in New Orleans ?   
No, because she or he killed humans too. But then what did she or he want ?   
Marcel was furious, he completely lost his mind and he killed one of his vampires for rage.  
Who dared doing this to him ? Who dared provoking him in that way ?   
Whoever he or she was, had firmed his or her doom.   
Marcel would find him at the cost to se fire to the whole New Orleans. At any cost…   
Stefan went away knowing that no one of them could have followed him. No one possessed his speed there.   
Probably they didn’t even know he was here.  
‘It’s done, now I can come back home’.  
Now Stefan was sure that the fight would ended. Both Klaus and Marcel would be more concentrated on discover the identity of the man under the hood instead of fighting against each other.   
For that night, Klaus would be safe and Stefan earned more time for understanding why Klaus was so different from other sinners.  
Stefan thought it was because he was an Original, but Elijah was an Original too and still Stefan could perfectly feel his sins.   
‘Klaus Mikaelson could be the key for my salvation… and I have to protect him at any cost’.

…

Klaus, Hayley and Elijah came back home almost at the same time. They were exhausted, especially Klaus and Hayley who were wounded in different parts.   
It was a luck that Marcel didn’t bite Klaus or Hayley or anyone of the werewolves.  
Hayley was worried for her pack, because three wolfs were wounded but fortunately no of them died that night, but how much longer could they resist ?

“I’ve been capable of turning five people tonight. I made them drink human blood and tomorrow I will start to train them” said Elijah passing two glasses of blood to Klaus and Hayley.

“Thanks” said Hayley with a shiny smile.  
  
Klaus instead didn’t say anything, he just drank his blood. thinking about what the events of that night. He had succeeded to kill sever vampires but he knew that Marcel would create new members to recruit.   
Now that he knew that they could use grenade with Werewolf Toxin, Klaus was sure that Marcel would ask Vincent’s help, trying to find a way to protect himself and his vampires.  
Klaus was tired of delaying the moment, he needed Marcel dead. he wanted him dead, at any cost.  
Klaus’ heart was full of anger and hatred toward the one who he used to consider like a son.   
His heart was broken when Marcel interrupted their friendship but now the only thing that Klaus needed was to make him suffer as he had suffered.

“If you keep doing so you’ll brake the glass” Freya warned him looking at his fingers.

“Yeah” said Klaus finished his glass “I was thinking too much”

“About what ? The mysterious killer ?” asked Hayley.

“Did you see him ?” asked Freya alarmed.

“We saw three of his victims. He killed three vampires tonight, while we were fighting against Marcel” explained Klaus.

“I think he was spying me too, at some point. I had the sensation that someone were spying me but I didn’t see anyone.” said Elijah.

“Why dod you think it was him ? Why couldn’t be a vampire of Marcel ?”

“Because a vampire of Marcel would have attacked me or at least tried to kill me. Instead whoever he was simply watching me. He or she didn’t even stop me from turning that people into vampires.” said Elijah.

“I don’t think it was the mysterious killer. He killed both vampires and humans, he killed Marcel’s vampires and it’s obviously that he doesn’t fear him or he wouldn’t have dared to kill near The Abattoir. So if he doesn’t fear the Beast, I’m sure he doesn’t fear any of us” answered Klaus banging his glass on the desk.

Klaus didn’t even know him or her, but he already hated the guy.   
He was a little envious, if he had to be sincere. He was envious because that guy had the bravado of killing whoever he wanted, because he or she didn’t fear Marcel or the consequences of his or her actions. He or she was free of following his or her true nature… free of hunting, free of being a murder...  
Klaus loved his daughter but sometimes he missed the old days, when he was free of being and doing everything he wanted too.  
The Old Klaus would have found a way of defeating Marcel a long time ago, instead now Klaus had to follow rules, had to collaborate with his family and wasn’t able to act on his own, to make his own choices, to follow his plans.  
It would have been so much easier, it used to be so much easier.

“What do you think Klaus ?” asked Hayley distracting Klaus from his thoughts.

“Sorry, about what ?”.

“Do you think that the new killer could be a threat for our family ?”

“I’ve no idea. If he wants us dead why didn’t he kill Elijah ? If it was him to spy my brother. And why does he appear now ? Does he lieve here ? Is he a newcomer ? Is an Hunter ? A sadistic murder ? There a lot of inexplicable things.” answered Klaus.

“Think about his victims, they have nothing in common” said Elijah.

“No one kills people at random, Elijah. His or her victims had something in common and I’m sure there’s a logic behind the crimes but we still can’t see it. Alway, until the killer won’t hurt one of us, he or she isn’t a problem we have to resolve. Marcel is our priority.” said Klaus.

The other nodded.   
Klaus was right, they have already a lot of problems for worrying about others.   
Freya said she would prepare day rings for tomorrow for the new vampires, while Hayley decided to go to her pack, to be sure her werewolves were okay.   
Elijah decided to control the baby vampires and then to take some rest, he was exhausted.  
Klaus instead decided to go to his room. He wanted to paint something, it helped him to stay calm, to think clearly about his next moves.  
A lot of things happened that night that had upset him, his fight against Marcel, not having been able to rip his heart when he had the chance, the new mysterious killer arrived in New Orleans… and Stefan Salvatore.  
Klaus couldn’t avoid to suspect Stefan was involved with the arrive of the new killer.  
He had any rational reason, but there were a lot of “coincidences” and he didn’t believe in coincidence in the first place.   
The problem was he couldn’t look for Stefan to keep him under control. Klaus didn’t know where he lived, he didn’t have his number and he couldn’t even do a locate spell.  
He was also exhausted. He didn’t have the strength to do anything. he was physically and mentally tired but he still had to do something.   
He still had to find out if Stefan’s daughter was a kitsune or not, he had to find out the real reason why Stefan arrived there in New Orleans, he had to find out who he really was, what was hiding… everything…  
He lay down on the bed, not wanting even paint anymore. He just closed his eyes and then he let tiredness took over him.

…

Stefan came back home, he locked the door and he went to living room, when he saw Eri eating listlessly a packet of crisps, watching a movie on TV.

“Hi Eri. Dinner’s arrived” said Stefan kissing her forehead and then handing her the wrist with the bracelet.

“You too. Almost two hours after midnight. Why so late ?” said Eri putting aside the packet.

She was angry and hungry, she felt weak and that was making her more irritable than usual.   
She spent the whole night worrying about his otōsan, who was completely alone in a new city that he didn’t even know, where Klaus and Marcel would have killed him if they knew he was a Sinner Hunter.   
Eri knew that her otōsan loved her with all his heart, but she was scared that he was underestimating her. She knew she wasn’t strong and powerful as she should have been, she knew that until she wouldn’t get her fifth tail she was worth less than nothing but…

“Do you consider me weak ?” asked her trying not to cry in front of her father.

“What ?” asked Stefan completely stunned.

“Is because I don’t have my fifth tail isn’t it ? I’m a burden for you because I’m not strong enough…”

“My little fox what are you saying ? Don’t say this, you know it’s not true…” said Stefan gently grabbing her face.

“Do you want abandoned me as my pack right ?”

Eri knew she was exaggerating, but her hunger wasn’t allowing her to think clearly.   
A young kitsune like her needed to feed on people’s bad feeling frequently to develop their power.  
Their fox was the machine, the feelings were the benzine, without them kitsune could loose control of their own feelings and become hysterical, in the better case, in the worst case, they could loose control on their Kyuubi too and in that case the risk of hurting someone was high.  
Anyway, Stefan wasn’t scared of her Kyuubi but he was really sorry when he heard her asking that question.   
Years spent together weren’t enough to be sure that you wouldn’t be abandoned again, Stefan perfectly knew it because he was afraid that, someday, Eri or Lexi would have abandoned him.  
So he didn’t say nothing, he just gently grabbed her little hand and let her absorbed his pain.  
Eri felt suddenly better.   
The pain of her otōsan was simply delicious and peerless even if it wasn’t a nice thing to say, but Eri was happy when she absorbed his pain.  
When it happened Eri could see, like it was a sort of a movie, the events which made his otōsan suffer.   
His homicides… the sad or bad memories of his human life… a fight with someone…   
She could see everything like if she was living that moments herself. It allowed her to better understand her otōsan and that wasn’t all.  
When he killed people, he absorbed their sins so, their pain became his and Eri could know them too.  
No matter if they were alice or dead, she knew their secrets too, so she could manipulate them.   
She knew the bad things her “uncle” Damon, Marcel or Elijah Mikaelson even if they were still alive.

“Thank you… and sorry… I don’t know that came over me.” said Eri.

“It’s your hunger. I know what effect it has on you, don’t worry.” said Stefan with a small smile.

A negative effect of being the best meal of a kitsune was that every time she absorbed his pain, he felt weak and tired.   
When Eri was quite satisfied, she let his wrist and then she hugged him.

“Why did you protect him ? You took a great risk”

“I know, but I was afraid to loose him. As I said, he could be my only chance to be free once and for all”

“Are you sure to be focus only on his soul and not on anything else ?”

“I’m focus on my target, Eri, as always”.

Stefan didn’t know why, but he felt the strong need to defend his reasons for having protected Klaus even tough He knew that Eri wasn’t blaming him for anything.   
She was just concern for him, that was all.  
And she was right, Stefan had to admit it. He took a big risk that could have put in danger him and Eri.   
He had to be more careful, but Klaus had the special power of making him loose his mind.  
Why ? How could Klaus Mikaelson have all this power on him ? It was dangerous, he was playing a dangerous game and if he didn’t pay attention he would risk to loose everything over his soul.  
“Tomorrow will be another day… and I’m ready” Stefan though holding tight Eri against to him.

…

Marcel was clutching the balcony railing with anger. He was watching the other vampires taking away the corps away and only now he understood to have lost a lot of them that night, and only because of Klaus and his damn family.   
That bloody family had been his personal cursed and continued to ruin his existence.  
How could he be free of them forever ?  
And who burned alive his vampires ?  
Who dared doing that to him ?   
Marcel was focusing himself on the night, trying to remember every single detail, every single moment, trying to identify what could be escaped from his attention.   
Then he remembered.   
Elijah… Elijah wasn’t there to fight with Hayley and Klaus and it wasn’t unusual.  
He’s always fought at their side, always.   
Why didn’t he show up that night ?  
Could Elijah be the mysterious murder ?  
A suspect, almost a certain, was growing up in his mind and he clutched the railing stronger.   
“Elijah… you’ll pay for this, I can assure you”


	6. Cool People

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stefan and Eri try to spend some time together but then they met Klaus and Elijah.  
> Will they survive after one afternoon spent with the Mikealson ?  
> Will Klaus find out more about the new guy ?

CHAPTER 6

_Stefan ran, ran away from fire and flames. He could feel the Hell reclaiming his soul, but he still fought, he still ran. He couldn’t stop, not even for a second, not even if he was barely breathing, not even because his legs hurt and the only thing they wanted to do was letting him fall down on the floor._

_“You’re mine… Stefan… you’ve always been mine… you’ll always be mine…”_

_Cade was whispering that cruel words. His voice was like a snake, it was attracting, but in a negative way._   
_Cade had a power similar to Sybil’s, it had the power to attract the prey toward him, but Cade wanted him to surrender to the allure of the darkness, he wanted Stefan to let the flames wrap him, in their coils so he could never escaped from his doom._

_“I’m your doom… Stefan Salvatore… and you can’t escape from me…”_

_Stefan could feel Cade reached him, Stefan could feel his breath behind his neck and the sound of his voice was like a rope which was suffocating him._   
_Cade was taking Stefan’s breath away… he was sucking off all his energy… his will to escape… his will to fight…_   
_Stefan had never felt so canceled, so weak, so emptied…_   
_And for a moment he really wished to give up, he really wish to stop to run… he really wish to stop to suffer…_   
_Why should he still run away after all ?_   
_In front of him there wasn’t light, only uncertainties, fear, nightmares and pain._   
_In the same moment he was thinking of giving up once and for all, he heard another voice who was calling him. A young sweet voice that was helping him to escape from his nightmare._

_“Otōsan… Anata wa watashi o kiku koto ga dekimasu ka ?” (Can you hear me ?”_

_Stefan could hear that sweet voice very clearly, he recognized it and suddenly his path started to shine. Now he knew he could escape from Cade, who was screaming at him, threatening him, trying to drag him back into the darkness but he still ran, ran and ran._

_“Otōsan… Me o samashimasu… Me o samashimasu… Me o samashimasu !!!” (wake up)._

_So he ran… he ran… and then there wasn’t nothing else but lights in front of him. The hell didn’t burn it anyway, there was only a gentle heat, like a caress… Now the pain disappeared and he was saved again._

Stefan woke up and the first thing he saw was the beautiful face of his musume who was caressing his hair. He also noticed that she had taken off his bracelet and she put it on the bedside table.   
Stefan understood why, the bracelet burned all his skin around the wrist, which meant that Cade tried to comunicate with him while he was sleeping.  
He often did it, in the hope to convince him to give up his soul to hell.   
Other times instead was a sort of advertisement, a sign that Cade was going to talk to him sooner o later.   
Stefan hated his visit, he hated talking with that horrible devious man, if he could call him man and not Devil.

“It was Cade right ?” asked Eri.

“Yes. He dragged me into a nightmare and every time he did something like that, he appeared to me. This means that he’s going to visit us. Lovely” said Stefan with clearly sarcasm and frustration.

Eri rolled her eyes. The day was just begun and it was already a suck. She still was a little bit angry with her otōsan for yesterday and she was still reflecting about what they supposed to do about Klaus, because she still didn’t think that being involved with him was a good idea, but now Cade was their biggest issues, as always.  
Stefan wasn’t happier than Eri to see Cade.   
He always ended up devastated, with his soul reduced in pieces and his heart turned in dust after any conversation with Cade.  
Stefan want to kitchen and started to prepare breakfast for Eri and himself, maybe it was a little weird but Stefan really needed to illusion himself that everything was normal, that it could still be an happy day and that no one was going to tear him so down to can see the core of the earth.

“Shinpaishinaidekudasai, otōsan. You can face up that horrible guy, you always do.” (Don’t worry)

“Cade is not a ‘bully’ like Klaus or Marcel. He’s my boss, I have to obey him or he will send my soul and Damon’s ones right in hell and God knows what would happen to you”

“I would be perfectly able to save you and the other dick head from hell on my own”

“Eri !! I’ve told you a lot of time not to call your uncle in that way and secondly promise me that if I fail you wouldn’t do anything stupid for saving me.”

“ Watashi wa kūfukuda, wareware wa atode hanasu koto ga dekimasu ka?” asked Eri (I'm hungry, can we talk later?)

Stefan nodded, knowing that Eri wouldn’t had answered him anyway.   
He should talked to her about that argument sooner or later. He didn’t want her to put in danger herself for a lost cause.

“Today, we can spend the day together, what do you think about it ?” he asked.

“We’re always spend time together. It’s not like we have a lot of friends to get out with”

“I mean, together without Klaus or Marcel or other people involved. We can pretend just for one night that we… are a normal family” proposed Stefan.

Eri blinked, then she nodded. She needed some time to spend with her otōsan without thinking about Cade or sinners.

  
…

Stefan and Eri were walking in the French Quarter. Stefan promised to her to spend the day together, he also bought her an ice cream to make her glad.  
Kitsune didn’t need to eat human food to survive, but they enjoyed it, even more than vampires.   
Eri, on the other hand, was happy to spend some time with her otōsan, pretending for some time that they were a normal family and that there was any supernatural individual who was constantly ruined their lives.  
Eri’s seen Cade in his face four time in her life and she hated him more after every time. He scared her otōsan, not because he looked particularly threatening, no, he looked like a normal person, but he wasn’t. He was the Devil and there was something vaguely alarming about him, the way he talked, the way he looked at you. Like you were nothing more than a worm for him.   
In that moment, something came into her mind.

“Are you going to tell Cade about Klaus ?” asked her licking her ice cream.

Stefan bitted his inner cheek. He didn’t want Cade to know the truth about Klaus, because if he had learnt something about him, it was that once Cade put his eyes on a soul he didn’t give up until he got it.  
If Cade found out about Klaus, Stefan wouldn’t be able to stop his owner from hurting the hybrid and his family. Stefan had already ruined too many lives and he didn’t want to do any other damage.   
He was damaged beyond repair but that didn’t meant that he had to ruin other to feel better.

“No. I don’t want Cade to know about Klaus. He could hurt him and his family”

“Cade is threat for us too, don’t forget it. The only reason why Cade wants him alive is because he’s an original and he has a bloodline to protect.”

“I remember it. Our family is my priority, always Eri. I wouldn’t want to become Klaus’ friend otherwise. I don’t care about him, I care about you and your happiness.”

Eri nodded, even if she wasn’t reassured, not completely. A part of her was hoping that her otōsan was right, that Klaus was his soul to save and that they could finally become a real family, another part of her was scared to death for the entire situation.  
Maybe she was acting in that way only for her prejudices but Mikaelson family was dangerous for them.   
Nevertheless her otōsan said that she was the most important thing of his life, and she believed it. She wanted to believe it.

“Anata ga watashi ni jūyōdeari, otōsan” said Eri pulling the sleeve of his jacket (you are important to me, daddy)

“Anata wa watashinojinsei, watashi no chīsana kitsune” said Stefan pinching her cheek (you are my life, my little fox).

“Here is my favorite duo of polyglots !! How are you doing ?”

A voice behind made them jump. Both Stefan and Eri looked back and they saw Klaus Mikaelson walking toward them with his daughter and another man, Elijah Mikaelson.  
Stefan felt his heart beat faster, he reached into his jacket pocket and with the other hand he took Eri’s hand, so no one could see them trembling.  
But Eri could feel that he was nervous and she wasn’t sure to want to know why.   
Klaus was glad to have found Stefan.  
He forgot to ask his number yesterday and he didn’t know how to contact him or find him, now he could fix it.   
Elijah was following Klaus silently. He was observing Stefan, the infamous Ripper Klaus told him about that morning and he looked at the little girl.  
‘She should be the alleged kitsune’ he thought.   
Honestly, he didn’t see anything special in that little girl but he had to admit that it was curious seeing a vampire who play at happy family with a child.  
Did he kidnap her ? Did he compel her to believe he was her father ?  
Elijah could recognize when someone was under compulsion and it didn’t see the case of the little ginger.   
Hope instead was looking at Eri ice cream and when the little kitsune noticed that, she whispered something to her father who gave her some bills.  
Then Eri came close to Hope.

“Can you accompany me to ice-cream shop ? It won’t take long” asked her.

“Can I daddy ?” asked Hope to Klaus.

Klaus wasn’t sure to want let his daughter alone with that ginger child but he needed to convince Stefan that he trusted him, so he gently kissed his daughter forehead and then he nodded.  
Hope smiled, then she took Eri’s hand and then they went together to ice-cream shop.  
Stefan smiled, perfectly understood Eri’s intentions. She wanted to buy an ice cream to Hope, maybe because she wanted her as friend.  
It wouldn’t be strange, Eri’s never had a friend because of him.

“They’re adorable” Stefan whispered.

“Yes, they are, unfortunately they grow too fast.” said Klaus who listened his word “May I introduce you my brother Elijah ?”

“Nice to meet you lad” said Elijah politely.

“I’m Stefan Salvatore, nice to meet you too” said Stefan forcing a smile.

Now that Elijah was closer to him he could feel his sins better and that was making him feel uncomfortable.   
The temptation of taking Elijah’s life in that moment was strong, a lot, he could almost feel his bracelet burning his wrist, asking, demanding and screaming for that soul, but Stefan had to control himself.   
Klaus and Elijah were too Original vampires, they were too perceptive, so a wrong move would have been enough to sign his death warrant.

“So, how did it go yesterday ?” asked Stefan trying to focus his attention on something else than sins around him.

“How did you know about yesterday ?” asked Elijah alarmed.

“Don’t worry, I told him about yesterday. I was hoping he would have joined us, but he preferred watched a movie with his beautiful daughter” said Klaus with a smirk.

Elijah relaxed but he didn’t like that his brother told to a stranger about their fights against Marcel.   
He would tell his brother no to share informations about them with strangers later, now it wasn’t the moment.  
While Elijah was mentally reproving his brother for his unconsciousness, Klaus answered Stefan question.   
Of course he didn’t mention anything about his dialogue with Marcel, about their strategies, and the mysterious killer.  
Stefan was a newcomer, so he couldn’t know anything about the killers who lived in New Orleans.  
Bothering to ask him some questions would have been a waste of time.  
But Klaus still wanted more informations from Stefan so an idea came into his mind.

“Me and Elijah were going somewhere, would you like to join us ?”

“Niklaus I don’t think it’s a good idea” said Elijah without giving Stefan the time to answer.

“I agree. You’re in a delicate situation and I don’t want to create any problem”

“What problem, love ? Me and my brother weren’t going to do nothing that can’t wait some time to be done”

“Actually it was exactly…”

Klaus didn’t let Elijah ended his sentence that he grabbed Stefan by his arm and then they started to walk toward the ice-cream shop, where Eri has just bought an ice cream to Hope, as Stefan had expected.   
Eri and Hope went out from ice cream, hand in hand.  
Hope looked very happy to eat her ice cream, Eri instead had almost finished hers and she looked satisfied for it.

“My little wolf, what do you say about doing something fun with our new friends ?” asked Klaus caressing her her.

“Yes !! I’d love it !!” said Hope with enthusiasm “Where we go ?”

“This is a surprise. Right, Elijah ?”

“What ?” asked Elijah completely confused.

“Yes, wasn’t you planning to take Hope somewhere fun ? Now you can take her new friend with her too. On the other hand, the more the merrier, no ?”

It was a fortune for Klaus that they were in a public place, because Elijah was looking at him as he had all the intentions of killing him in that moment.  
Klaus smiled innocently but he knew that Elijah perfectly understood his intentions.  
He wanted Elijah to spend some time with the little ginger, to understand if she was or not a kitsune or a threat for any of them.  
And while Elijah observed the little ginger, Klaus tried to manipulate Stefan and finding out all his little secrets and maybe get another ally.

“Let’s go girls. I promise we’ll have a lot of fun together”

Elijah took both Hope and Eri by their hands and then he walked away but not before to throw Klaus a glance which meant ‘You’ll pay for it’.  
Eri looked at her otōsan, she smiled at him then she turned around and went away with Elijah and Hope.   
Stefan smiled her back with sadness.   
He promised her to spend the day together and he didn’t keep his promise. Why could he never keep a promise to her ?  
He promised that they would have been a real family, but he kept to failing miserably.  
He was an horrible father.

“Hey ! What’s wrong ? I swear my brother’s going to take her back to you if that’s what you’re worried about” said Klaus.

The hybrid perfectly noticed the darkness fell on Stefan’s face and he could feel that something was wrong. Stefan looked almost heartbroken when he saw his daughter going away with Elijah.   
Why was he reacting like that ?   
Maybe he’s never spent more than few seconds away from his daughter. Klaus could understand it very well.   
After five years separated from his daughter he didn’t want to be separated from her not even for a second during the first day, then he understood that he was becoming paranoid again so stopped.   
His paranoia ruined his family once so he promised to himself to be careful, not to be oppressive anymore.  
Experience proving, he needed to let more space to people around him.  
And although Stefan didn’t seem the apprensive guy there was something that was making him torn.  
Stefan, noticing that Klaus was looking at him with confusion, recomposed himself quickly.

“I’m sure of this. Where do we go ?” asked Stefan forcing a smile.

“Come with me. We’re going to have some fun”

“I’m not sure I’m going to enjoy your kind of fun.”

“Don’t worry about anything, love. I just want to show around my beautiful kingdom”

“Former kingdom do the moment” corrected him Stefan.

He shouldn’t have to but his tongue was longer and faster than his mind sometimes.   
He could easily note that Klaus didn’t appreciate his comment, at all but then he ignored it, pretending that he didn’t want to snap the other’s neck for his impertinence.

“You should give me your number. I forgot to ask for it yesterday” said Klaus.

“Oh, okay” Stefan gave him his number then he asked “Do you usually show around New Orleans to every newcomers or it’s an exception for me ?”

“Do I look like someone who’s gentle with everyone ? I told you, love. You surprised me, in a positive way and I really want us to be friends.”

“Well, thank you then. I haven’t had a friend for a long time” commented Stefan with sadness.

Stefan felt suddenly sad, because that moment was remembering him more than ever his long years of complete solitude, when depression was the only company he had.   
Because he used to be depressed before Eri and it was the worst period of his life.   
Klaus blinked, noting another time the melancholy in Stefan’s eyes, but he didn’t ask. He knew Stefan would have avoid to answer, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t curious. Was Stefan a solitary ?  
He surely looked like that. He travelled alone with his daughter that Klaus was sure she wasn’t not even his, at least not genetically. He wondered if Stefan had any siblings, if he had a family somewhere that was waiting for him, that was worrying for him or if all his family died and he was the only one still alive because he was a vampire.

“Where do we start ?” asked Stefan trying to be gleeful.

Klaus smiled him back than he took his hand and so the tour started.

…

Eri was enjoying the time spent with Elijah and Hope. She initially didn’t want be alone with that two, she didn’t know them and so she didn’t trust, but then he found herself almost glad.   
She needed some time without her otōsan, not because she was tired of him, but because she could reflect better about the entire situation, about the Klaus’ question and Cade.   
She also wanted to know more about Mikaelson Family, since there would be a lot of interactions in the future between them.

“You are a numerous family, aren’t you ?” she asked while they were walking.

“Yes, I’ve a lot of uncles and two aunts. Aunt Freya and aunt Rebekah. Do you have aunt ?” asked Hope still licking her ice cream.

“Not that I know” answered Eri shrugging.

It was true after all. Otōsan told her once that uncle Damon fell in love with one woman in his whole life and that he wasn’t the kind of guy for lasting relationship. She’s never met him in her life and he’s never looked for them, so neither she or her otōsan knew anything about Damon’s life.   
Eri wasn’t even sure to want to meet Damon at that point, she called him uncle only to make her otōsan happy.  
Elijah furrowed his eyebrows at that answer.   
Didn’t she know her kin ? Seriously ? Was Stefan so full of secret, as Klaus though, not to tell Eri about their family ?

“Where’s your mother ?” asked Elijah trying to be polite.

“She’s still alive, I guess. I’ve not seen her for a long time. How did you born ? I thought vampires couldn’t procreate.” asked Eri bluntly to Hope.

“Okay girls, where do we want to go ?” asked Elijah before Hope could answer.

He didn’t trust the little girl. There were too stranger things about her and her father.   
What did she mean when she said that her mother was alive and somewhere ?   
Was her mother a vampire ? Why wasn’t with her and Stefan ?   
Eri could feel the suspicion growing up in Elijah’s heart, she was a kitsune after all but she had to be careful.

“I want to go to fun fair. Mommy took me there once. It was cute” proposed Hope.

“Okay. Are you okay with that ?” asked Elijah to Eri.

Eri nodded. Her otōsan took her to a fun fair once but she didn’t like it. That place was full of positive feelings, of normal families, smiling, with happy face, too happy for Eri’s taste.   
Fun fairs were also too crowded but she couldn’t say no. So she smiled and still keeping Elijah’s smile she went to fun fair with him and Hope.

“Eri, how can you speak Japanese ?” asked Hope when they arrived to fun fair.

“My mum taught me. She grew up in Japan. My name is Japanese too. It has a specific significant”

“What does it mean ?” asked Hope.

“Award blessed” answered Eri “Your name is definitively more beautiful than mine”

“No, yours is beautiful as well. What do we try first ?” asked Hope points toward rides.

“You pick, I follow” answered Eri shrugging again.

Hope picked a ride and they went there first.  
Elijah, while they were on the first ride, didn’t take his eyes off Eri, not even for a second.  
A part of him, truly wanted to have a proof that the girl was a kitsune but he was afraid of her Kyuubi and her powers. What if something went wrong and Hope’d got hurt ?   
He wanted answers but he didn’t want to tempt the fortune.  
He’s never met a kitsune, he didn’t know how Eri could react under an extreme situation. What is she hurt Hope ?   
If Klaus wanted to find out what that ginger girl actually was, he had to find a way to do it when she was alone and far away from Hope.  
Maybe he could also ask Freya if she knew a spell or something. For now, the only thing he could do was observing her.

…

Stefan was enjoying the tour despite all his doubts. Klaus turned out to be a man full of surprise, who had wide culture about everything in the town.  
He told him about their travel to arrive there, about how he and his siblings collaborate to create the town, how they managed to create a sort of balance between vampires, witches and werewolf.   
Klaus told to him to have collaborated a lot about the architecture of city.

“Really ? Do you like architecture ?” asked Stefan genuinely curious.

“Actually art and architecture are my two favorite hobbies over get more power. I consider myself an artist.”

“So do you sketch and paint in your free time ?”

“I used to do it, a lot. But after five years of torture, the only thing I can think about is revenge.”

Stefan nodded. He didn’t know the full story, but he saw, between Marcel’s sins, that he had imprisoned and tortured Klaus for five years, bringing him almost to madness. He wanted to know more but he was scared to ask. It was a delicate matter after all.  
Klaus assumed an aggressive expression when he remembered the five years of pain, desperation and he remembered to have desired to die.  
The only hope he had was his daughter, the thought that he was going to see her again, that she was somewhere and that she was waiting for him to come back to her, and the voice of Camille who told him to resist, not to surrender, that he was doing that for his family, that they counted on him… that he was stronger than Marcel…  
Klaus closed his eyes, then he took a deep breath and

“So you don’t paint anymore ?”

“Rarely, really rarely” said Klaus who wanted change argument “I was wondering… Do you have any siblings ?”

“One, he’s a vampire too but I’ve seen him for a long time” answered Stefan.

‘He’s the one who abandoned me’ Stefan thought full of embitters.   
That abandon was still an open wound in Stefan’s heart, a mark that wasn’t going away any time soon. Sometimes Stefan wondered if he could forgive Damon in the first place.   
He didn’t hate him, he accepted his decision, he respected it but the disappointment and the betrayer was still burning his heart and he had all the rights to feel in that way.

“Let me guess, you two fought for a woman, she chose him and you couldn’t accept it, right ?” asked Klaus.

Stefan shrugged “We can say so, but he’s not with her anymore and we didn’t split up because she chose him over me. My brother chose someone else over me.”

“What do you mean ?” asked Klaus confused.

Stefan laughed, even if there wasn’t nothing to laugh about. He didn’t want to talk about Damon, but it could be a good way to get closer to Klaus’ heart. He has seen, through Elijah’s sins, that they fought for a woman, that Klaus kissed her in front of Elijah and that he desired him to disappear for that.  
He also saw that Elijah betrayed Klaus over an over again, but in the end, his love for his brother was stronger than anything else.  
Family was the most important thing for Klaus, so if Stefan wanted to become his friend, he had to appear as the lovely and devoted little brother he used to be.   
He had to make up a story that justified the absence of his older brother in his life but that showed he still loved him with all his heart.

“My brother was a cool person. Charming, smart, confident… he was my hero. Unfortunately I’ve never been a cool person as he is. Cool people wanted to be surrounded by cool people just like they are, I accepted and I still love him with all my heart but I needed to let him go and be free to shine just like he deserves”

If Eri could have listened him she would have been proud of him.   
The best liars always told the truth and he did in someway. Damon was a cool guy, no one could deny it, Stefan used to be a cool guy too but his deal with Devil changed anything.  
The depression, the lack of empathy, his vegetarian diet, his solitary life and his life in general made him the ghost of the cool younger brother he used to be.  
Damon wanted the cool brother, all smile and kindness toward him, he wanted Stefan to fight back his depression and he left when he saw no result from the ghost.  
What he said to Klaus was the truth. Few details full of hidden meaning, enough to say anything without revealing too persona facts.  
Klaus wasn’t a fool, he perfectly understood that Stefan was avoiding to answer his question as any other before.  
It was starting to irritate him a lot.   
What did exactly mean his brother was a cool person ?   
Too much questions came over his mind and the worst part was that he couldn’t give an appropriate answer to any of them.   
Stefan looked at Klaus’ face and he understood that he was getting angry with him because of his evasive answers so he spoke again.

“I didn’t even tell him about Eri. I don’t even know where he is actually. Since Katherine, nothing had been the same anymore”

“One moment, you said Katherine ?” asked Klaus shocked.

“Yes, I’m not surprise you know her. She looked like the kind of girl who had… a lot of friends” Stefan said a little disgusted remembering that woman.

“And are you included in all those friends of her ?”

“I can say so. She helped me to understand a lot of things and she turned both me and my brother. Then she faked her death. I know it because I met her a lot of years ago, my brother didn’t or at least he didn’t know she was alive last time that I speak with him” said Stefan.

“Katherine, or Katerina, as I call her, always know how to survive. She’s a manipulator, the baddest bitch I’ve ever had the misfortune to meet.”

“I can say the same, but the past is past. The only thing that matters to me is my musume. You better than anyone must understand that”

“I do, my daughter is the best thing of my life too”

Klaus smiled and shined when he talked about Hope and that made Stefan smiling.   
At least Klaus hat to admit that he and Stefan had something in common after all, they both shared a deep love for their daughters. It wasn’t much but maybe it could be a good base for a friendship. Stefan asked to Klaus if they could continue the tour and Klaus nodded.  
Only in that moment Stefan noticed that he was still holding other’s hand.

…

Eri and Hope were looking at Elijah who was trying to win two prizes for them to a shooting range.   
Hope asked for a big white Teddy Bear, instead Eri asked for a little fox.

“Why didn’t you ask for something bigger ? Do you think uncle Elijah is not good enough ?” asked Hope looking at her.

“I just like that fox.” said Eri shrugging.

Hope smiled at her.   
She was a smart child, she could feel that the ginger teen was something unique, a creature completely different from her and her family.   
She was using her power and sometime she had the sensation to see a sort of fox spirit around her.  
Hope liked seeing the fox spirit when it happened.   
Hope was dying for asking what was that fox demon but she was waiting for the right moment.  
Maybe she was just a child but she noted that her uncle Elijah has been observing Eri since that morning. She didn’t understand why but she was suspecting that it was because of that fox spirit around Eri.

“So, we were talking about family, I’m sorry that you’re mother is not with you. I’ve spent five years divided from my daddy and I suffered a lot.”

Eri looked at her and she remained surprise from the sincerity in her eyes.   
She wasn’t accustomed with it. She was a kitsune, she was attracted by lies, devices, tricks but not sincerity.  
Living with her otōsan didn’t encourage other kind of connections. She accompanied him to kill sinners, she absorbed his pain but nothing of it was a positive thing.   
She still lived in darkness, as any other kitsune.

“I’m sorry.” Eri said.

She didn’t know why she did it, but she took Hope’s hand and then she absorbed part of her pain.   
She saw everything… the solitude… the desperation… the fear for her father’s fate…   
Hope instead felt only a little shock, then she felt… strange… happier in some way…  
Whatever Eri was doing to her, it was making her feel better.

“Thank you, you’re cool.” Hope said hugging Eri.

‘No… Okage de…’ (thank you ) Eri thought hugging her back.


	7. Always Together

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stefan and Klaus spend some time together but then an unpleasant meeting push Stefan's dark side to reveal himself, but troubles don't finish there.  
> Cade wants to talk with Stefan.  
> Wha does the Devil want to talk about ? Does he know about Klaus ? Does he want to reclaim Stefan's soul once and for all ?

Stefan has feared that moment since his first encounter with Klaus. They were having an excellent time together, a part from some moments when Klaus asked wrong questions or when Stefan told something wrong.   
He hadn’t socialize for a long time so he forgot how doing it. He said something truly embarrassing without thinking sometimes but fortunately Klaus was so kind to ignore them.

“I’m sorry but I’m not so good enough with people. I usually said something embarrassing but I don’t do it on purpose” apologized Stefan.  
avoiding the other’s gaze.

He’s just told Klaus that he was tempted to make his head blowing off after their first met.   
It wasn’t a polite thing to say but it was the first thing came in his mind.

“Well, I can see why you don’t have a lot of friends but it doesn’t matter. You’ll improve your communication skills with time” said Klaus.

Actually Klaus wasn’t offended at all, he looked more amused by Stefan’s words.   
He was starting to like that guy. Stefan wore no masks, he said the first thing that came up in his mind, he wasn’t talkative but he wasn’t a bad company either.  
Klaus showed Stefan New Orleans, they visited together the French Quarter, the Garden District, the Dock and the Art District.   
While they were visiting those places, Klaus told him some stories about his family, their arrival, the people who they had met there.   
Stefan was fascinated from his stories and he wanted to know more, always more.   
Now they were sitting at Rousseau’s, in the French Quarter and Stefan noticed a sort of shadow of melancholy falling on Klaus’ eyes when he looked at the bar, as he was looking for someone, someone who used to work there, someone who occupied a special place in Klaus’ heart, someone… who may died because of the hybrid.  
Stefan of course didn’t say anything to avoid another embarrassing moment.   
Anyway troubles weren’t ended for him, apparently.  
Klaus proposed to him to sit at a secluded table so they could have more privacy.

“I’m thirsty. You know, I’m a father and anything else but I am a vampire too. Look around, do you see something interesting ?”

“Ins’t dangerous talking about this argument here ?” asked Stefan trying to avoid that conversation.

“You say ? Don’t you want a snack ?” asked Klaus with a mischievous smile.

‘Oh my God’, Stefan though getting panic. How could he explain to Klaus that he couldn’t drink human blood because of his deal with Cade ?   
He couldn’t say the truth, of course but he would have felt embarrassed if he told Klaus that he followed a vegetarian vampire.  
Klaus would never accept it, Stefan was sure of it, so he had to make up something.  
Klaus could sense that Stefan was becoming nervous, strangely nervous.   
’This boy’s going to make me loosing my mind’ he though.   
Stefan was truly a complicated and challenging person. Klaus was excellent at understanding people, sometime it occurred more time but at then end he figured someone out. But Stefan didn’t leave any clue to him, Stefan was a puzzle and Klaus still didn’t have any piece to start with.   
But Klaus didn’t want to give it up, instead he was even more motivated.

“Do you have someone in mind ? Do see… someone appetizing ?” asked Stefan looking around.

Klaus started to look around and suddenly he saw a lonely girl sitting on a table. She was pretty, with dark hair, she wore a light blue dress and she was looking toward the door, probably because she was waiting for her boyfriend to arrive.

“I want to invite her for a drink. Who knows if she becomes the meal ?” asked Klaus getting up from his chair.

Stefan wanted to beg him not to do it, to leave the girl in piece but it would have been too strange.   
He knew that Klaus was going to use compulsion to convince the girl to sit with them, since she didn’t seem the type to accept the invitation of a stranger.  
In fact she looked at Klaus suspicious when she saw him coming closer to her.  
Stefan could feel her sins, of course. She wasn’t a bad person, she was quite nice, the only sins she committed were telling little lies when she was a child, cheating once during a competition and fighting with her parents because of her troublemaker boyfriend.  
‘Good girls always end up with bad guys… what a cliché’ Stefan thought with sarcasm.  
At the end, Klaus really used compulsion on her and then she followed him to their table, sitting between him and the hybrid.

“Stefan, may I introduce you our new friend Lyla ?” said Klaus with a mischievous smirk.

“Nice to meet you Lyla” said Stefan without even looking at her.

Klaus furrowed eyebrows. What the hell was wrong with that guy ?   
Stefan didn’t look happy for the meal he chose for them, why ?  
Did he truly have such high standards in matter of meals ?   
Well, he was sure that Stefan would have stop to grudge at the first bite.  
Blood was always blood after all.  
But before that, he wanted to have some fun.

“So, Lyla… apparently my friend doesn’t like you, how will you fix this ?” asked Klaus looking at the girl in the eyes.

The girl, Lyla, under compulsion, smiled stupidly to Stefan and started to blink. Stefan ignored her completely. Even if she was pretty, she wasn’t his type, due to his homosexuality in the first place; in the second place, even if he wanted consider her just as his meal, he couldn’t do it because he couldn’t drink human blood.  
So while he was thinking about a way to push her away from him, another guy, with black leather jacket, ripped jeans and the face of one who has just sniffed a good dose of cocaine entered in the bar. When he saw his beauty little girlfriend with two other guy, he lost it and came toward them.

“Lyla ! What are you fucking doing with these two jerks ? Let’s go away !”

“Hey, there’s no need to be rude. We were simply entertaining your girlfriend who was tired of waiting for a piece of shite like you” said Klaus putting an arm around Lyla’s shoulders.

“Take you dirty hands off her, you bastard !! Lyla, let’s go !”

But Stefan didn’t want that piece of shit going away. He felt his sins just as that jerk entered into bar.   
He wasn’t only a troublemaker, as Stefan wondered, he was also a drug addict, with anger issues who was often, too often, violent and rude toward Lyla. He hit her and abused her over and over again.  
Stefan wanted to punish him.

“Why instead don’t you join us for a drink ?” asked Stefan using compulsion on him “Sit with us”

The guy blinked but then he sit next to Klaus, who was looking at Stefan as he had lost his mind.   
The last thing Klaus wanted, after being called ‘jerk’ and ‘bastard’, was having that guy sit next to him.  
Klaus was ready to rip his heart out of his chest but apparently Stefan had other ideas in his mind.   
Now Klaus was really intrigued, he truly wanted to see what Stefan was planning to do with that useless insignificant guy.  
He didn’t have to wait a lot.  
Stefan finished all his drink, so he could have his glass empty, then he took from his pocket his cutter then he gently grabbed Lyla’s wrist.

“What the hell are you doing ?” asked the jerk who was starting to understand his intentions.

But Stefan had just begun.   
Klaus instead was completely enjoying the show. What was Stefan planning to do ? Drinking Lyla’s blood in front of her boyfriend ? Could he really be so cheeky ?

“Stefan don’t be mean…” Klaus said.

Of course Klaus didn’t mean it, at all. He was excited for what was happening.   
He was shocked but in a positive way when he saw Stefan using his cutter on Lyla’s wrist.  
The girl’s blood ended in the empty glass, when Stefan finished he put took off his cutter.

“Thank you so much, Lyla. Why don’t you come back home and forgive to ever meet me and my friend today ? Thank you”

Lyla obeyed to Stefan and his boyfriend tried to follow her but Klaus grabbed him by his arm and obliged him to stay still.   
He couldn’t say to be happy after having seen his meal going away but Stefan was smiling, sign that he was planning to surprise Klaus once again.

“I’d like you join me… for a drink” said Stefan approaching the glass to the other guy.

“What kind of sick freak are you ?” asked the guy stunned and suddenly pale.

“I said drink” said Stefan nodded again.

Klaus couldn’t believe at what he was seeing. He was truly impressed, he’d never seen a vampire doing something like that.   
Obliging an human to drink his own kind of blood…. even if it belonged to someone else but still, humans didn’t enjoy drinking blood like vampires. They considered it disgusting, while vampires yearned it with their heart.  
Klaus could see the desperation and the repulsion growing in the guy’s eyes when he grabbed the glass and he took a first sip, almost immediately spitting it after.

“Sorry, I didn’t ask your name” said Stefan.

“Go to hell !” said the guy looking at Stefan with hatred.

Klaus bursted out, while Stefan became even more angrier.  
‘I go to hell… but you’ll come with me’ he though with the same hatred.   
A lot of people told him to go to hell before, Stefan used to be more tolerant about that question but now he couldn’t put it up with anyone who told him that.  
Stefan lived with the constant fear of burning in hell and he didn’t need anyone to remember him it.   
Not it was personal, now he wanted to see that piece of shit suffering, fearing him, begging him to stop.

“Tell me your name, now” he said almost growling.

Stefan looked more like a beast than a person now, the veins almost appeared around his eyes and he licked his low lip, foretasting the moment when he would kill him. Because he would, not it was sure.  
The Hunter inside him reclaimed that piece of shit’s life and Stefan would give it to him.  
Klaus was bewitched by that look and again he couldn’t stop himself from asking who was that wonderful guy ? Who was that amazing vampire ?  
Klaus’s met a lot of vampires during his life, some of them boring enough to be killed by him after three seconds, other had been luckier but no one of them impressed him as Stefan.  
Where did he learn that fantastic trick ? Did he invent it himself ?  
‘He’s a genius…’ Klaus thought, not being able of taking his eyes off Stefan.

“Liam… Liam Grant”

“Liam Grant !” exclaimed Stefan with satisfaction “Have another step Liam” he ordered then.

Liam Grant drank again and Klaus bursted. He was having so much fun.   
He wanted to punish the idiot, he wanted to attack his jugular, he wanted to hurt him with his fangs but he had to admit, Stefan had been more creative than him.  
Klaus looked at Stefan’s eyes and he could see that his new friend was even more entranced than him.  
That meant that it wasn’t the first time that Stefan did something like that, maybe he had also some other useful talents and Klaus predicted.  
‘He’s a really true Rippah…’  
Klaus’d deny it until the end, but that was the exactly moment when he started to look at Stefan with different eyes. He suddenly considered the toddler handsome, in a physically way, he had the most beautiful green forest eyes Klaus’s ever seen, a perfect jaw and, he was sure, a wonderful body under that clothes.  
Stefan would have been glad to know that he finally found a way for Klaus’ heart, but he was more concentrating on torturing Liam.

“Finish it” he ordered with cold voice “Drink slowly”

Stefan wasn’t looking at Klaus but he heard his laugh and he understood that his little show had been appreciated.   
He also loved hearing Klaus’ laugh, it found it cute, especially because he was sure Klaus hasn’t been laughing for a long time. The features of his face were sharp and delicate at the same time and the hair he used to consider ‘funny’ now were amazing for him. He was glad to be a vampire, his human self wouldn’t have had the courage to stare at someone for so long and with all this bravery, especially with someone who was confident as well.   
Then Liam finished his glass and put it on the table. Stefan looked quite satisfied but he wasn’t done with Grant.

“Let’t go for a walk.” said Stefan putting some money on the table without even counting them.

Klaus finished his glass then he followed Stefan and Liam out of the bar.  
‘This’s going to be fun’ he thought with a cruel smirk.

…

Eri, Hope and Elijah were having a good time too, even if it was less macabre.   
Eri was holding against her chest her new little puppet with one hand, while she stil was walking hand in hand with Hope.  
Hope was happier than when she went out from home that morning. She found a new best friend and now she was also sure that Eri was a special creature, even if she hadn’t figure out what kind of creature she truly was yet.  
But she would. She was like her father about that, once she decided to do something she persuaded her goal until the end.   
Elijah had good time with the two girls too, despite his initial discontent. He still had no idea if Eri was a kitsune or not but he could see that she had a positive effect on Hope.  
His little niece looked happy, so it supposed to be good.

“Are we coming back to daddies, uncle Elijah ?” asked Hope.

“We should, it’s quite late now.”

It was true. It was almost evening now, so they should hurry up and coming back home. But last time he talked to Klaus, they didn’t clarify a place to meet before coming back home.   
He grabbed his cell from his pocket and called his brother, just to know what he was supposed to do.

…

Klaus was licking his lower lips and he was glad of doing it. Stefan had just served to him the best meal of his life.   
The death corp of Liam Grant was looking at him with empty eyes, sitting on the couch in front of tv, as he was just watching the tv instead of being dead in his own house.  
Stefan was looking at his artwork.   
He ripped Liam Grant, limb after limb, but when he recomposed him, he took his heart and put it into his jacket.  
‘A little souvenir’, that was the excuse he told Klaus to justify it. Klaus considered it lovely creepy, even for a Rippah like Stefan, but he still had another question.  
Stefan needed to keep his heart for himself. Liam Grant was a sinner, his soul had to belong to Cade, but he couldn’t use his bracelet in from of Klaus. He would put a remedy after.

“Why didn’t you drink his blood ?” he asked.

Fortunately, Stefan had an answer already this time “Because he was a gift for you. Maybe he wasn’t so much appetizing but I can always do better.”

Klaus smirked. Was Stefan implying that they would do this again together ?  
Actually, he didn’t do anything, Stefan was the one who ripped Grant limb after limb, but Klaus loved watching him.

“So are we going to see again ?” asked Klaus a little glad.

Stefan considered Klaus’ smile the cutest thing he ever seen, after Eri’s of course but that was another matter.   
He was glad to have spent the day with him. The fact that he couldn’t feel Klaus’ sins was good for him, it made him feel normal, it made him forget who he’d become, what he’d become. A murderer… A marionette in Devil’s hand.   
But whit Klaus he felt more normal than ever and the moments spent with him were precious all of them. But it scared him too. What if he got too much attached ? He couldn’t. Cade would never leave him in peace and he would hurt Klaus if he considered him a problem to get Stefan’s soul.   
Stefan had to be careful. He spent too much time avoiding feelings and relationship that now he forgot how much dangerous they could be for someone like him.

“Well, we are friends right ?” he asked.

Why did the word “friend” suddenly look so wrong ? It had an horrible sound for Stefan’s hears, but he knew, in a deep part of him, that he and Klaus could never be something more. It was better in that way.  
Klaus didn’t seem to appreciate that word more than Stefan. Maybe he didn’t want just be Stefan’s friend but it was too early to say it and also he was straight, he was sure about it. He’s always preferred women over men and still he was sure Stefan was going to make him loose his mind for him.   
Stefan wasn’t the only one to need to be careful. Klaus had to be careful too. He had been in love a lot of time, but any of his relationship ended well.   
He also didn’t want to get attached with someone who already told him that he would go away from New Orleans sooner or later.

“Of course we are. Ehm… Just a moment, my phone rings”.

‘Who dares to disturb me now ?’ Klaus thought annoyed.   
He saw the name of his brother on the display. Only in that moment he remembered to have left Elijah alone with his daughter and the little kitsune.   
He answered and he told Elijah to encounter where they split up.   
Stefan was glad to know that Eri was okay. He didn’t think about her too much, but not because he was a neglecting father, but because he usually avoided to think about Eri when he killed sinners.   
So, after having looked at Liam Grant for the last time, Stefan followed Klaus out of the house and then they met up with the others.  
The first thing that Stefan noticed when he saw his lovely musume again was that she was taking Hope’s hand, but she left and ran toward him, keeping in her other hand a puppet.

“Otōsan! Anata o mōichido mite dono yō ni subarashīdesu! Anata ga inakute sabishikattadesu !” she said hugging him (It's nice to see you again ! I missed you !).

At least she wasn’t angry with him for having left her alone with two strangers.

“Watashi mo anata o nogashi, anata ga tanoshindemashita ka?” (I missed you too, did you enjoy?) asked Stefan.

But before Eri could answer, Hope sad “I hate when they talk like that. It makes me feel excluded”.

Probably Klaus and Elijah felt excluded too, so Stefan and Eri apologized for that.   
They didn’t do on purpose, but they were used to interact with each other that way.   
At the beginning for Stefan had been challenging learn Japanese, because it was a language completely different from English, but once he learnt he couldn’t stop to talk in that way.

“I asked her if she had fun but I guess it was a stupid question. Her smile answers for her” said Stefan kissing his musume on her cheek.

“I spent a good day, otōsan. Do you like it ?” asked Eri showing Stefan her new puppet “Mr Mikaelson won it.”

“It’s really cute. Did you thank ?” asked Stefan.

“There’s no needy. I had a nice day myself. I’ve been wanting to spend some time with my lovely niece and finally I had the opportunity, but now me and my brother have a lot of things to do, right ?” asked Elijah with severity.

Klaus nodded. He would have loved spending more time with Stefan but there were a lot of things that required his complete attention.   
He had to defeat Marcel and protect Hope. The streets would no longer be safe for her.   
Marcel was looking for the mysterious murderer and the street would be full of his vampires.  
Klaus didn’t fear them but he didn’t even want Hope to be involved in one of his fight.   
He came closer to his beautiful daughter and hugged her, kissing her on both of her cheeks, then he grabbed one of her hand.

“I missed you, my little wolf. Come one, let’s go home” said Klaus caressing her hair.

Hope nodded, then she made a wave toward Eri and Stefan.

“We’ll see tomorrow okay ?” asked Klaus to Elijah.

Stefan nodded and Klaus felt more reassured, instead Elijah more suspicious.   
It wasn’t that he didn’t like the boy but he didn’t trust him either. And the fact that Stefan got Klaus’ sympathy so soon only made his suspects grow.   
His wasn’t someone easily to be impressed and nevertheless something in Stefan hit him and Elijah feared it.  
The last time that someone impressed Klaus so much he became the worst enemy of their family, so he had to be careful.  
Eri and Stefan weren’t coming back home, Stefan asked her few minutes to find a place where he could burn Grant’s heart.   
When Eri asked how he got that heart, he though to lie to her before telling her the truth.

“If I tell you the truth… you promise me not to get angry ?” asked Stefan almost praying her.

Eri rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. Sometimes she wondered who between her and her otōsan was the adult and who the child.   
By the look on her otōsan’s face she could understand that he had done something big and completely dangerous.  
The truth was that sometimes Eri was more mature than her father, wiser. She was his confident and she always gave him wise advices.   
Stefan was wise but sometime his was too impulsive, especially when he lost control over himself, as it happened when he became a Ripper the first time and as this afternoon with Liam Grant.   
It didn’t happen often, but sometimes his need to hurt someone was just too strong to be kept under control. Sometimes he needed to see someone suffer because of him, he needed as much he needed blood.   
That part of him scared him to death and it seemed that he could control it better when he was with Eri; but when he was left alone, or when he was with someone else who could have a bad influence on him, his Ripper self went out and hurt everyone around him.  
She remained silent while Stefan told her everything about Liam Grant, avoiding her gaze and burning the heart of his last victim instead.

“I can’t believe it… Wǒ bùnéng líkāi nǐ dúzì yīrén, jíshǐ shì dì èr !!” she shouted (I can not leave you alone even for a second)

“Nǐ dāyìng wǒ, nǐ huì bù huì yǒu lěngmén” said Stefan (You promised me that you would not have upset ).

“You gave me all reasons to be mad with you. Do you have any idea of the risk you put yourself through ? And for what ? For Klaus ? Wǒ bù xǐhuan tā” said Eri still screaming (I don’t like him).

“Yes, you’ve been much clear about that. Eri, it’s not me who decide who save or not. I don’t even know if Klaus is the soul to save but it’s worth a try.”

“A try maybe, but this doesn’t mean you have to put on a show in front of him every single time you spend time together. What do you think he would do if he ever found out that you’re a Sinner Hunter ? Ah ?”

“He would probably kill me, I know. I’m sorry”

“You know, bà…” said Eri truly anger “We’ve always been in this together, I’ve always stood by you through everything and I would do the same over and over again. But now you’re taking too much decisions on your own. I know that usually parents take decisions for their children but the next time that you put our life in dangerous, I would like you to consider that you’re not the only one who risks his head, all right ?” asked her.

“I’m sorry. I’ve done a lot of mistakes ultimately but… It’s just…ah… It’s not only Klaus okay ?”

Eri furrowed then asked “What do you mean ?”

“It’s me, Xiǎo húlí. It’s me. Klaus wanted to kill Liam Grant but… I don’t even know how to explain it because I’m shame of myself but…” (little fox)

Eri grabbed her otōsan’s hand.  
She was still a little angry with him, but after look him in the eyes she understood that her father was going through one of his Ripper complex period.   
It usually happened when he knew he had to meet Cade, it was like the Devil roused all the darkness inside Stefan. Nor the one he absorbed from his victims and that Eri feed on it, no. The inner darkness, the ones that everyone had and that couldn’t be erased.   
Hatred… Anger… Sadness…  
Everyone was the worst enemy of himself, and Stefan wasn’t an exception.

“I wanted to hurt him, Eri. I wanted to make him suffer. I needed even. Klaus enjoyed the show but… I enjoyed it even more. I craved for seeing Grant suffer, it was like my life suddenly depended on his desperation. I was glad to see him scare of me.”

Eri could see the tears in his father’s eyes, so she hugged him and caressed his hair, absorbing his pain as well. She knew how much her otōsan feared to turn himself into a monster, into an heartless man whose hatred and anger would have spread inside him like a virus.   
Stefan hugged her, surrounding her little body with his arms and held her tight.  
What would he do without her ?  
Eri was everything to him, everything. He would do anything for her, he would be everyone for her, he would set the world on fire if it made her happy.   
Cade considered Stefan a puppet in his hands, but Eri had more power over Stefan than the Devil himself.   
In fact Stefan was feeling better, really better and not only because he could feel his pain flowing away from him, but because Eri was with him and that was the most important thing.

“Hey, I want to go to Church tonight. Maybe we can go there after we meet with Cade ?” proposed Stefan kissing Eri forehead.

“Yes. I know you need and I need it too. Going to Church makes me feel better sometimes.”

“Me too, honey. Come one, I want to come back home. I’m sure we will meet Cade there”

Stefan wasn’t wrong. When they arrived at their apartment, they saw that the door was slightly open. Stefan rolled his eyes. Of course Cade was already there.   
Maybe he wanted to be sure that Stefan hand’t tried to run away from him, like he could.  
Cade was a psychic, he could read Stefan in his mind, he could predict his moves, his plans, he could tell when he was lying to him.   
Stefan entered inside first, Eri followed him.   
They saw Cade from his back, while he was looking around, like he was looking for something inside there without being able to find it.

“Good evening, my dear.” said Cade turning toward them.

“Hi, I hope you didn’t have to wait for me for too much time” said Stefan closing the door.

“Actually I’ve been waiting for you to give me what I want for long time. Why ?” asked Cade coming closer to Stefan “Why don’t you just surrender to me ?”

Stefan could feel his heart beat faster and his legs trembling. Cade scared him, even if he tried to be strong and firm in front of him, but Cade could read him so easily and well.  
“My dear Stefan, I can see the fear in your eyes”  
Stefan repressed the impulse to shout at the man to get out of his head. He hated when Cade used telepathy with him. He hated the idea that Cade could know all his secrets, that he could read him like an open book, he hated being at his mercy.

“Eri… can you go into your room ? Please ?”

Eri nodded. She knew that it wasn’t the right time to discuss with her otōsan. So she just obeyed, without even look Cade in his face. She despised the man, it wasn’t a secret, but she didn’t want to put his otōsan in troubles.   
When Stefan remained alone with Cade, he felt like the air was missing around him.   
Cade found his fear delicious and inviting, but that excited the most was the pride that never left his beautiful forest green eyes.  
How long have he been waiting for Stefan to surrender to him ? How long would take for Cade to have his beautiful soul ?   
Cade had created a lot of Sinners Hunters, some of them, like Sybil, escaped from him, somehow, others found their should to save, other gave up and now burn in hell, other still hoped to be saved… they were all unique, but Stefan… Stefan was the only one who became a Sinner Hunter to protect someone else.  
Usually the people who became Sinners Hunters were used like a commodity exchange by bad people, Stefan instead chose to be one of his servant, but to get more power but for the safety of his brother.  
Cade’s been delighted by his soul since the started.   
He caressed Stefan’s soft cheek and he could feel Stefan shudder.  
It wasn’t a pleasant touch, it was like a snake which was crawling down his neck.   
‘When the devil caresses you, wants the soul’, Stefan though.

Cade smiled, continuing to touch Stefan’s face, then he said “You made me proud of you, you know ? I’ve always though you would have been a magnificent Sinner Hunter and you didn’t disappoint. You’ve killed a lot of people since you arrived here”

“And I will kill more, but we both know that you’re not here for congratulations. What do you want ?” asked Stefan aggressively.

“I’m here because I want your soul, Stefan. It’s not a secret after all. But I found out that there’s his a considerable inconvenient for me. Am I wrong ?”

Stefan’s heart lost a beat.   
He should have know better than try to hide something from Cade. He’s been so naive to think that Cade wouldn’t have found out about Klaus.  
Now what was going to happen ?  
Would Cade kill Klaus ?   
Stefan knew the answer already.

“What are you going to do ?” asked Stefan.

“Niklaus Mikaleson would be a beautiful diamond in my collection of souls, I can’t deny it. He’s the Original Hybrid, the King of Vampire, The Legend… but unfortunately for him he doesn’t have a bloodline anymore.”

“What ? Are you saying that after all this years he didn’t turn anyone into a vampire ? I don’t believe it” said Stefan almost laugh.

“I didn’t say it. He used to have a bloodline but someone broke it. Now for me he’s a normal vampire with the same ability to die.”

“If you expect his soul from me, you can come back hell” said Stefan pushing Cade away.

“You can’t disobey me and you’re not in the position to deny me something that I want”

“Of course I’m not. But I will find a way to protect Klaus from you.” said Stefan.

Cade smiled mischievously “You’re really convinced that him is your soul to save, aren’t you ?”

“I don’t know, but I will find out. We have a deal and it gives to me an opportunity to be saved and you can’t take it away from me.”

Cade remained apparently calm, but Stefan knew that he was furious with him.   
Cade was greedy, he lost any opportunity to obtain an important soul if he had it. Destiny after one thousand yeas was giving him the opportunity to get the soul of The King of Vampire and one of his subordinate denied it to him.  
The situations could have been hilarious.   
Cade knew Stefan was right. The same dead which had linked Stefan’s destiny to Cade was also the key for his freedom.  
But Cade was cruel enough to get his revenge on Stefan’s disrespect soon.

“Fine. If you don’t want to kill him, then you have to find a way to make him create another bloodline. Even if he doesn’t want.”

“Why wouldn’t he ? He’s bloodline is the key for his safety”

“But he can’t know it, can him ? Or you should tell him the truth and then who know what he would do with you”

Stefan wanted to punch him in the face.   
He knew what Cade was trying to do. He wanted Stefan to oblige Klaus to create a new bloodline against his will.   
Apparently Klaus’ former bloodline had been cause of pain for the hybrid and now Cade wanted Stefan to put his soul to save through that pain again.  
His cruelty didn’t stop to surprise Stefan.

“You want me to make him suffer. You want to punish me because of a my hypothesis ?” asked Stefan angry.

“No, I want to make him suffer because I’m the Devil. Simple.”

“You’re cruel with me…”

“Am I ? Well, to make you forgive me I’ll give you another gift. Telepathy. So now you can answer me when I talk with you. Listen your angelic voice in my mind would be like a sweet kiss from you”

“I don’t want a gift from you”

“Oh believe… you’re going to love it. You will find out that there’s nothing funnier than penetrating in people’s mind for knowing their secret and then manipulate them. As I always do with you”

Cade caressed Stefan again, just to mark his territory and his superiority over the younger vampire. That gestore showed possession, property and domination over Stefan.  
Stefan closed his eyes, so he couldn’t see the smirk on Cade’s face.  
‘You will be mine…remember…”  
Then Cade kissed him forehead. He always did it before disappear.   
Stefan now could breath it.   
He fell on his knees on the floor and he tried not to cry. He hated Cade, he hated him. He wanted him death.

“I WANT YOU DEATH !!”

Stefan was unconscious of having screamed, as he didn’t notice that Eri went out her bedroom and hugged him.

“Sore wa subete no kenri, otōsan ni narimasu. Boku wa yakusoku shimasu” (It will be all right, Dad. I promise you)

Stefan held her tight, cried on her shoulders, sniffed the scent of her hair, listened her beautiful heart beat and for one second he trusted her.   
Together they could do it, together they could find a solution.

“Watashi wa anata ni ima made ijō ni hitsuyō” (I need you now more than ever)

“We are in this together, otōsan. Always together”.


	8. Black Grey White

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After his conversation with Cade, Stefan is mentally broken and became depressed.   
> His depression prevents him from doing even the simplest tasks, so Eri has to provide blood for him.   
> Will she be able to take care of her otōsan on her own ?

Stefan didn’t want to do anything, he didn’t have the strength or the will. He woke up few minutes ago, but he couldn’t say to have slept properly. He spent almost two hours in Church last night and the rest of hours were spent in his bedroom, trying to remove every memories of Cade and his hand on him.  
It happened all the time, as after every encounter with the Devil, the depression that Stefan tried so much to get over it came back again.   
That day wasn’t particularly awful or miserable, no, it was a sunny day, the typical day when normal people sang their favorite song, dressed up with colorful clothes and went around smiling to everyone. It was Stefan to be depressed.   
It was a typical depressing day when the light of the sun disturbed him but he didn’t even have the strength to get up from bed and draw the curtains, when he saw all the world in black and grey, not even white; when the only thing he could do was lie somewhere, with constantly tears in his eyes, not want to see or hear anything and anyone.   
It was one of the empty day when the simplest task was too much painful and complicated to him, when the only company he wanted were the silence and his own self-destruction.  
Because yes, when he was in his depressione-mode he tended to do something stupid, in that case starving himself.   
But if he wanted blood, he should have gone into the wood and hunt some poor animal that had done nothing wrong but exist.   
‘Hunt’… what a hateful sound had that word to him in that moment.   
Almost instinctively he looked at his naked wrist, where there was a red sign, an horrible sign which remembered him what kind of object was surrounding his skins until few hours ago.   
The silver bracelet was in the first drawer of his bedside table and there it would be stay for the rest of the day.  
‘I need just one day… then I will be better…’, Stefan though tightening his pillow with his fingers.  
He had to feel better until the end of the day, he had to, it wasn’t an option.  
Eri needed him, he had a job to do, people to kill and a probably soul to save. God, he had a lot of tasks to do, but not today.  
Today was the day when he felt the world tearing him down, was the day when the storm of his soul couldn’t find peace, it was the day when he felt to have lost all the valid reason to pursuit his goal.  
Why ? Why should he have to keep on try if nothing could make him happy ?  
He has been a poor miserable wast of space for so long and he risked to make Eri’s life miserable as well. Maybe Cade was right, maybe he should have just given up, it would have been better.  
Eri was strong, stronger than she though, she would have survived without him, she would have been happier.  
He was only a burden to her, an obstacle to her truly happiness.   
She would have found her place in world…   
Stefan used to think that he could have found it as well, instead he found a place in the hell and the King of Hell would wait for him forever.   
‘Maybe I should just kill myself ?’ he though.  
No one would miss him anyway. No would cry for his absence, he was sure of it.   
He didn’t have a lot of friends, he didn’t have a family anymore, Damon abandoned him, Lexi was somewhere, trying to help him, because she naively thought that he was strong enough to be safe again.  
He was a burden for Lexi too.   
Lexi always believed he was special, but she was wrong. She was too much kind, compassionate and gently with him to understand the useless and incompetent failure he truly was.  
He should have done a favor to her too and put an end on her misery.  
If he killed him, Eri and Lexi would have understood him and forgiven him.  
They would have understood after few days how much better their lives were going to be without him but…

“I’m so coward and selfish that I don’t even the strength to kill myself…” said Stefan with trembling voice.

And only now he realized to be crying. He closed his eyes, trying to fall asleep fast.   
It was the day when his nightmares were more pleasant than the hell of his life.

…

Eri woke up early, very early that morning.   
She knew, since the second they come back home from Church, that today was one of that day.   
One of the day when her otōsan spent all the day pitying himself, crying over his life, considering himself a failure and meditating an hypothetical suicide. And after all, the major times wasn’t so much hypothetical. The major time his depression was so strong that he tried to kill himself even twice or three time during the same day. He scared her in these day, but she couldn’t blame him. She knew her otōsan was strong enough to get over his depression, he just needed someone who remembered him it. She also knew that leave him alone in the house wasn’t one of her best ideas, but he needed blood. He was starving himself and that was the last thing he needed.   
If she had learnt something from her past experience, it was that she should have never indulged her otōsan in his self-destructions behaves. If he didn’t want to eat, she had to elaborate a way to convince him to.   
If he didn’t want company, she had just sit down somewhere, without touching him, or talking to him, waiting for him to speak first.   
If he cried, she had to let him do it.   
She didn’t even dare to absorb his pain. It was a bad day and her otōsan had to find a way to turn it into a normal day on his own. He had to remembered himself that he could do it, that he was strong enough, that Cade didn’t get to win.   
If she absorbed his pain, her otōsan would have felt worst in few time, he would have believed that his strength depended on someone else, that he couldn’t take care of himself, that he was only a waste of space that weighed on the shoulder of his musume, that he was too weak and spineless to win over his depression.  
Eri couldn’t let it happen. Her otōsan was better than this, so much better than anyone in the world for her.   
He had to only remember it.  
So she dressed up, she didn’t eat anything, she didn’t need it. The pain she absorbed from her father last night was more than enough.   
She grabbed her bag and she went out. She had put some blood bags in her bag, various kind of tool to withdraw the blood from animals and her cell.  
Even if she doubted her otōsan would call her.  
Lexi taught her how do it the first time she saw her otōsan depressed. Fortunately that time they were together. Now she was alone and the wellbeing of her beloved otōsan depended on her.   
After all, Eri didn’t mind taking care of her otōsan. It made her feel useful and brave.  
She rarely went out alone without her ōsan at her side, but she used to be alone before to met him, so she was perfectly able to take her of herself, and she was a kitsune.  
She avoided the crowded street due to her fear to be seen by one of Marcel’ fools, remembered the direction to arrive to the wood.  
Years spent hiding in the wood and in the streets helped her to develop a good sense of direction.   
After few attempts, she found the way for wood.

“The first part is done. The easiest one, unfortunately. Now the second starts” said Eri.

The second part consisted in finding and capturing an animal to drain.  
Unfortunately, although she had an animal demon inside her, she wasn’t able to hunt animals like vampires or werewolves.  
The first time she hunted with Lexi it had been a full disaster. The second time went better.  
She improved a lot through the years but she still had some issues.  
She also had to be careful not to be discovered by werwolves.   
Her first victim was a rabbit, not so appetizing but enough to fill the first bag.  
Her second victim was another rabbit, even less appetizing than the first, but it was the best she could do at the moment.  
Her third victim was a bird. Its blood filled only half bag.

“I’ll never be a great huntress. Fortunately my otōsan rarely has to depend on me for meals.” commented Eri while she was finishing to fill the last bag.

When she closed her bag and put it on her shoulders again she was ready to come back home, but only now she realized she had moved away too far.

“Predators go where their preys are.” said Eri with irony.

She started to walk. It didn’t matter if she moved away too much, a part from she waste too much time out there instead that with her otōsan, who had suicidal instincts that day.   
Unfortunately, luck was not on her side that day. She encountered two werwolves along the way.   
They were in their human form but she could tell what they were because of her powers.   
But Werewolves recognized a Kitsune when they encountered one more easily than a vampire.  
Probably because they were both animals or something. Even in their human form, the strongest werewolves could see the Kyuubi when they concentrated.   
She was surprised that Klaus Mikaleson hasn’t found out her true nature yet.   
Hope saw her Kyuubi, she knew her did, she could feel it.   
It was only a matter of time before Klaus saw it too.   
Now Klaus Mikaelson wasn’t her first problem, but the werewolves in front of her.   
She couldn’t overcome them without being seen, so she had to find another way to come back home. While she was thinking a way to elude them, another werwolf was coming from the opposite direction and saw her.

“Hey ! Who are you ?” he screamed at her.

That shout caught the attention of the other two werewolves.   
Eri was usually able to control her Kyuubi and prevented him from reveal itself, but that day was a particular day.  
That day she wasn’t in a complete control over herself and her emotion and her fear. She just couldn’t stop to think about Cade, about the way that tedious man continued to ruin her otōsan’s life, about her otōsan himself who has spent too much time alone without supervision and that could have done something stupid by now.   
She was scared, angry, sad and plus she still had Stefan’s negative emotions running through her veins.   
Without even realized it, her Kiuuby appeared and enveloped her body while her green eyes became gold.

“Shit ! She’s a kitsune !!” screamed the one behind her “Her pack would be around here”

Eri almost laughed. Pack ? What pack ? She was alone, not even her father could save her now.   
But she could handle them, she had.  
A kitsune has magic, they can study any normal field of magic and she did. Lexi was friend of a lot of witches and every time she came back to them she gave her a lot of pages and books with spells on it.   
Eri’s never attended school, she had a lot of time to learn a lot of spells.

“Incendia !!”

The ground around the werewolf started to burn. The flames were also stronger than normal.  
Eri was a kitsune of Fire, it was her element.   
Like a witch, her Kyuubi was connecting with nature but, like all the “demons”, it could control a typical kind of fire.  
Hellfire, in this case, like Cade, or Stefan through his bracelet. Eri usually avoided to use that power. It scared her. All the kind of spells which required hellfire scared her. She wouldn’t have even been able to use it, because she didn’t have her fifth tail, but absorbing pain directly by a Sinner Hunter has a lot of advantages.

“Phasmatos incendia movet, phasmatos incendia moventur, ego ex vos…”

“What’s happening here ? We heard someone screamed”

Eri couldn’t continue the spell and a big part of her was relief for that.  
Her joy ended up as soon as she saw who interrupted her. There were a brunette girl, a werewolf for sure, Eri could recognize the smell, even if it was a little bit different, and beside her there were Elijah and Klaus Mikaelson who were looking at her Kyuubi with an idiotic expression.  
‘I hate them so much already’ Eri though rolling her eyes.  
She took a breath, then tried to calm herself, control her emotion and then the Kyuubi disappeared.

“Well well… So my suspicious were right. You are a kitsune aren’t you, love ?” asked Klaus coming closer to her and grabbing her arm.

‘Watashi no aishimasu!’ Eri thought (Poor me)

…

_He was cold, his chest hurt and he couldn’t see where he was going._   
_He could only feel his hands dirty of blood, the rain drops which were falling on him, on his clothes, on his hair but strangely they didn’t wash away the blood._   
_It was still on his hands and he could feel it even on his clothes._   
_‘It was an horrible idea…’ he though, but he was desperate. He didn’t want to live this way anymore, he wanted to put an end on it, he wanted become ash and dust shattered on the ground._   
_He didn’t know what happened to him, he spent three weeks in a complete apathy, see everything in black and grey, not even white, and the only constant desire he had was to kill himself._   
_So he did…_   
_He left his daily ring on his bedside table, then he went out two hours before dawn. He ran away, trying to put more and more distance between him and Damon, so his brother couldn’t stop him._

“You can’t escape from me… my precious…”

_Cade’s voice was still tormenting him._   
_Of course Cade knew what Stefan was planning to do and of course he knew that him would have failed._   
_But Cade was a cruel man… he wanted to see Stefan go all the way, until the end, until he would find out the painful true._   
_The worst part of this was that Stefan was truly convinced of what he was doing, of what he wanted to do so he let himself burn under the sun, and he did._

“Don’t be afraid my precious. I won’t let you die alone. I will be with you when you die and also when you come back to me…”

_Stefan ignored the voice in his mind._   
_He didn’t want to listen any more words from the King of his Nightmares._   
_He just sat on the the grass and he looked the sun rising._   
_Strangely, being burned alive by the sun was less painful than he thought. He felt free, he felt… happy, in some mad way, he felt happy because he truly believed in that moment that everything would have finished for him, the he wouldn’t have had to kill for Cade anymore, he wouldn’t have put it up with his guilty anymore… maybe he would burn in hell but he would be free anyway._   
_He smiled… few second before being turned into ash…_   
_But then he cried when he came back alive. He truly hoped to be dead, he truly hoped… He truly…_

_Stefan woke up and almost fell on the ground._   
_Dreaming about his first suicide attempt wasn’t the best thing to make him feel better._   
_It was only making him fall into the black of his soul, where desperation was still holding his hand._   
_He wanted to scream, he wanted to stand up, get dress, comb his hair, try to be his normal self._   
_His normal self was a piece of junk, but at least it was a piece junk with a decent look._   
_His depressed self was a worthless piece of junk with an ugly face._   
_Only now he noticed that there was too much silence around him._   
_During that kind of days, Eri spent her her time around him, but not in the same room. She understood his need to be alone._   
_She spent her days reading, watching the tv, learning some spell and Stefan could hear her._   
_He was a vampire and listen Eri doing something was helpful for him because it made him feel less alone._   
_But now, where was she ?_   
_‘Did she leave me ?’ though Stefan with tears in his eyes._   
_What a pathetic and useless father he was. His daughter may has left him and he didn’t even have the strength to leave his bed, wash his face and look for her._   
_Could be possible that his depression was stronger than his love for his musume ?_   
_Was he so weak ? Was he so coward ?_

“Come on Stefan… you can do this… you must…” he said to himself.

…

Eri tried to get free but Klaus was physically stronger than her. She was tempted to attack him with her Kyuubi but it wouldn’t be a wise move. Not in front of everyone, not be before being sure that being a kitsune wouldn’t have been dangerous for her.   
She was surrounded by two kind of natural enemies of kitsune, vampires and werewolves and her father wouldn’t come to save her because of his depression.  
She truly needed him now. He would have known what to do, he would have known how to protect them. Instead she was completely useless.  
Klaus in that moment smelled a strange scent of blood coming from her bag.

“What’s inside your bag ?” asked Klaus.

“Guān nǐ de shì” answered Eri growling.

“Sorry love, I’m not your father. I don’t understand your Japanese and when I don’t understand someone I simple ignore it. So you should better speak English and answer my question.”

“Firstly, it’s Chinese. Secondly I told you it’s not one of your business. Let me go !!”

“You have nothing to fear anything, if you have nothing to hide” said Klaus taking her bag off her shoulders and opening it.

When he saw the blood bags inside, he remained surprised. He didn’t expect to find something like that.  
It wasn’t human blood, he could feel it because it wasn’t appetizing to him.   
Animal blood gave off a different smell, completely different and Klaus closed the bag not to smell it anymore.

“You kitsunes had a terrible taste in matter of food” commented Klaus letting Eri go.

“Well, it’s not for you, so you can let me go. I want to go home”

“Not just like that ! You attacked two my friends !!” Hayley said coming closer.

“I didn’t mean it. They scared me and I lost control on my Kyuubi.”

“You could seriously hurt them or worst !” replied Hayley.

“Yeah, you had the same worries when you killed your first eh ? Or maybe it was an accident”

Hayley turned pale when Eri said those things. She wasn’t proud of what happened a long time ago, before knowing about her true nature and her true origins. Before finding out she was a werewolf.  
She wasn’t proud of have killing a man while she was drunk, it was an accident that cost the life of a man.

“How do you know it ?” Hayley asked.

“I don’t. I know just how you active the gene for lycanthropy. You have to kill someone, intentionally or not, doesn’t matter” said Eri shrugging “Can I go home now ?”

“Not before telling us where is your pack” said one of the werewolf.

“I’m not with a pack. I’m here with my father, who is a vampire”

“Bullshit !! You kitsunes are deceptive ! Where are the others ?” asked the werwolf she attached with the fire.

“Firstly, avoid that kind of words in front of a child. Secondly, she isn’t lie, she’s here with her father, though he isn’t with her now. I will personally accompany her home, happy ?” asked Klaus putting his hands on Eri’s shoulders.

Klaus shared a look with Hayley. He might didn’t know a lot of things about kitsunes, but that doesn’t mean that others shared with him his same ignorance. In fact it looked clear that werewolves didn’t get along with kitsunes.  
He knew they could hurt her, they were looking at Eri with pure hatred and despise in their eyes and Klaus didn’t trust to let her alone wondering in the woods.   
Apparently Hayley agreed with him and Eri too.  
She was a smart little girl, she knew that she wouldn’t have left the wood alive if she hadn’t accept Klaus’ help.  
Klaus took her hand and then Eri followed him, Elijah and Hayley through the wood, until they arrived in front of an house.   
Klaus took her near a black car, took his key and opened the car door.

“It will not take long. I will come back very soon” said Klaus toward Elijah and Hayley, who nodded toward him.

Eri sat on the passenger seat next to Klaus, putting her bag on her knees and holding it against her chest, almost like she was scared to loose it.  
Klaus noticed it and a lot of questions started to form into his head.  
Why was she alone in the wood ? Where was Stefan ? Could the same Stefan, who had tears in his eyes after she went away with his brother, leave her alone in the wood ?  
He didn’t understand why, but he was worried, really worried about Stefan.   
Did Marcel do something to hurt him ?   
It didn’t have much sense, because there was no reason in attacking the father and letting the daughter go. Eri looked torn actually. There was something that was tormenting her and it was making him think the worst.

“Where’s your father ?” asked Klaus bluntly.

“I don’t know. He was at home, before I went out. I hope to find him here”

“Hope ? What’s happening ?” asked Klaus who was trying to refrain his worry.

“He’s passing a bad day and he usually does stupid things during a day like that. Fortunately, it happens rarely, really rarely. My otōsan is a strong man.”

“I’m sure of it. But what you’re saying to me it’s worrying.”

“You don’t have to worry about us. Me and my otōsan went through this kind of days a lot of times before, and we survived.”

“Maybe you two should stop to do everything alone. I talked with your father and he told me that you don’t have anyone else to count on.”

“Because we don’t need it. Did my father tell you that his brother abandoned him ?”

“Stefan simply told me that his brother chose someone over him, a cool person.”

At least that was what he remembered about what Stefan told him yesterday.   
Klaus thought a lot about that words, trying to figure it out the true meanings behind them.   
He tried to understand if there actually was a third person, if Stefan still suffered or not…  
Maybe spending a little time with the little fox could have been useful to understand more things.

“He didn’t like talking about his brother. I’ve met him. He didn’t even know his has a niece or that I’m a kitsune”

“Speak of it, are you going to be a trouble for me ?”

“No, as I said I didn’t want to hurt anyone. When I’m particularly scared or nervous, as today, I can easily lose control over my Kyuubi. It happens, but I didn’t want to hurt anyone”

“You have to tell me more, about your kind. I know a lot of things about vampires, werwolves and witches but I don’t know more about kitsunes. Now you have to tell me everything”

“Well, kitsunes like werewolves live in pack, but I’ve been abandoned. Otōsan’s been taking care of me since our first met. He’s my family, my pack… my everything. A kitsune of my age needed someone else by her side.”

“Why ?”

“Because kitsunes developed their powers, all their powers only after having got their fifth tail and I still have only four of them. I’m a kitsune of Fire, but there are other kind of kitsunes…”

So she told him about kitsunes. Not everything of course, in fact she didn’t tell him the typical weakness of kitsunes, she stil didn’t trust him.  
She told him that kitsunes were capable of styling and using any field of magic, that they could use mind control, dream manipulation and Fox-fire.  
She didn’t add anything else.   
Less Klaus knew about her kind, more she would be safe.

“And when you will get your fifth tail ?” asked Klaus at the end.

“Me and my otōsan will be far away from New Orleans. I can assure it to you” answered Eri.

“You don’t like me, do you ?” asked Klaus bluntly.

“I don’t like anyone actually. You’re just someone who appear in our life, play a little role and then disappear as everyone else. Otōsan likes you but he also understands that…”

“That what ?”

’That he has duties that you can’t understand’ Eri though without saying a word.   
The entire situation was oppressive, not be able to say the truth was oppressive, but she didn’t have other choice. She didn’t mean to be rude with Klaus, she understood that he could have been important for her otōsan. It didn’t matter if she didn’t like him, because if Klaus was the soul to save, she couldn’t push him away from her otōsan. He could have been his only possibility to be saved from Cade.

“That my opinion is important. I’m his musume after all. But after today, I’m more willing to give a chance to you. So don’t waste it”

“Thank you, kitsune. I’ve just another question to you”

“You want to know why I have animal blood in my bag”

It wasn’t a question. Eri knew he would have asked it anyway.   
‘Should I say the truth ?’ she though.   
How would Klaus react knowing that her otōsan follow a vegetarian diet ?  
Well, She doubted that her otōsan would have hid that secret from Klaus any longer.  
If he wanted to be saved he had to learn to trust people again, Klaus in the first place.   
Klaus was right, they had to learn how to interact with people again and how to trust with other people again.   
They had spent too much time alone…

“The animal blood it’s for my otōsan. Kitsune don’t drink blood.”

“What ? Are you kidding me right ? He can’t drink animal blood and be a vampire strong enough to kill…”

“You’re underestimating my otōsan, as everyone. Wait to see before to speak” said Eri.

Klaus didn’t say anything.   
He couldn’t believe that Stefan was one of that few vampires who needed themselves with animal blood.   
Yesterday he had a complete different impression about Stefan.   
The toddler looked like an amazing Rippah, ready to pain the entire town in red, who had tortured a man in front of his eyes and then rip him apart limb from limb.  
Stefan was a Ripper, there was no doubt about it, but a Ripper didn’t drink animal blood. Only a vampire all morals, rules and control drank animal blood and Stefan was everything but this kind of vampire.  
So what did it mean ? That he didn’t understand anything about Stefan ?  
Apparently yes and that was making Klaus furious, as never before.   
He’s always understood whoever he met quite easily, figuring out people was almost a game after having lived for hundred years.   
But Stefan… More he knew about that toddler and less he understood him.  
‘I want to talk to him, I need to understand’ Klaus thought.

…

Stefan felt broken. Eri was nowhere in the house, she didn’t answer to his call. What if she abandoned him ? What if she was in danger ?   
She didn’t leave him a note, a clue that could help him to know where to find her.   
‘My musume abandoned me… How can I blame her ?’ thought Stefan starting to cry.   
Eri deserved so much better… so much…  
But he couldn’t let her go, he had to look for her, he had at least to know if she was okay.  
He wore the first pair of jeans he found, he didn’t even change the T-shirt of his pajamas and the first pair of shoes he found and a jacket.  
He had an awful look but he didn’t care. His musume was more important than anything else in the world for him. It didn’t matter if he was depressed, if today was one of that day when the only thing he wanted was the worlds to disappear.   
He made only few steps toward the door, when he heard someone knock the door.  
Who could be ?

“Otōsan, It’s me”

“Eri…” he said running toward the door.

A little joy grew in his heart.   
His musume hasn’t abandoned him, she still loved him, she still cared about him. It made him happy.  
He opened the door but he remained surprised when he saw that Klaus was there too.  
The surprise didn’t last too much. His happiness for hugging his musume again was stronger.

“Watashi ga sagashi ni kite kimashita. Watashi wa anata ga nakunatte ita osorete imashita” said Stefan (I was going to look for you. I was afraid you were gone)

“Watashi wa otōsan o kika sete wa kesshite naidarou. Anata wa kore o osorete wa ikemasen.” said Eri hugging him tight. (I’ll never let Dad. You must never be afraid of this.)

Klaus rolled his eyes and said “And here we go again with the Japanese.”

Stefan ignored his comment, but he invited him inside the apartment.

“You look like hell” commented Klaus looking at him.

Stefan gasped when he heard that word, Eri rolled her eyes, putting her bag on the table, then she went in her bedroom and locked the door.  
The two men needed to be left alone.   
Klaus looked at Stefan, he noticed that the toddler was crying a moment ago and it was clear that something was wrong.   
The toddler’s hair were messy, from the mesh folds of his t-shirt Klaus could say that Stefan wore it to sleep and that he didn’t even change it.   
Stefan was ready to sink into the ground. Never in million years he would have wanted Klaus to see him in his worst conditions.   
Depression was one of the worst enemies of esthetic.   
And nevertheless Klaus considered him quiete… cute. In Klaus’ opinion, Stefan looked like a little child who had just spent a bad day and needed someone to take care of him.   
Maybe it was due to his new paternal side but he felt the strong necessity to hug Stefan and consolate him somehow but it would have been weird and Stefan wasn’t a child but an adult.   
So he stayed still, waiting for Stefan to talk again.

“Hi” said Stefan shyly.

Klaus closed the door behind him and say “You shouldn’t have let her wandering in the woods alone. She was going to have the same doom of Red Riding Hood, eaten by a bad wolf”

“You ?” asked Stefan almost angry.

“If I wanted her death I would have killed her a long time ago. She’s a kitsune. She a natural enemy of both vampires and werewolves and you know what ? I’m both, so she’s a double enemy for me”

“I’m sorry. I could you that I would tell you the truth in another moment” said Stefan talking the bag and sitting on the couch.

“You had plenty opportunities to tell me the truth yesterday but you didn’t and today you look awful and your daughter was alone in the wood to get some animals blood for someone and…”

“It’s me. Cheers” said Stefan before starting to drink the first blood blag.

Klaus’ facial expression was priceless.   
If Stefan was’t depressed he would have considered the situation hilarious.   
Klaus considered Stefan the epitome of the perfect Rippah and now he was seeing the same guy drinking what it seemed to be rabbit blood.   
The weirdest thing of the situation was that Stefan looked almost quite glad and satisfied by the blood itself. Like he was really enjoying it.  
Probably he’s been starving for so long that he was willing to settle for that crap. At least Klaus hoped so.   
Stefan had to admit to feel a little bit better. He truly needed to drink some blood, at least now he was feeling less weak, less depressed and now that Eri was back and that Klaus was sitting next to him, Stefan was feeling less alone too.

“God, you do like that crap right, love ?” asked Klaus after that Stefan finished the first blood bag.

“Isn’t blood what vampires yearn more than everything ?”asked Stefan starting to drink the second bag.

“Not animal blood, love. The scent of that thing is disgusting and I bet that the taste is even worse. Why ? Are you a masochist ?”

“No. I stopped to drink human blood a long time ago. I used to be a real Ripper once, without any control over my bloodlust. I hate who I used to be so I…”

“So instead of learning how to control yourself you just stopped to drink human blood. You passed from one extreme to other. I can’t say it’s a wise choice”

“It wasn’t the only reason. Before meeting Eri, I was broken, a body without soul, I used to see life in grey and black…”

“Grey and black ? Not even white ?”

“White was just too bright for fitting in my life during that period. Everything started after that my brother abandoned me. I felt lonely, useless and alone. I’m not proud of myself for this.”

“So is that the reason why your daughter was alone in the woods ? You’re depressed ?” asked Klaus trying too hard to look indifferent but he was a little worried.

How could be worried for the little toddler ? He barely knew Stefan and he already got worried for him ?   
Maybe it was due to the fact that Stefan finally opened up with him about his feelings. No one would have had the gut to tell to the King of Hybrid about his depression. No one. No one trusted Klaus enough to share with him a secret like that.   
Stefan instead looked perfectly at ease while he was drinking his animal blood in front of him, with messy hair and a sloppy looked. And yet again Klaus couldn’t avoid to think that the toddler was really cute. Becoming a father was really changing his attitude towards people but he didn’t mind.   
He used to be, and maybe he still was, a terrible person, but he was trying to change, he had to for his little wolf, for the only Hope he left to be finally happy. Hope was making him a better man, and now Klaus couldn’t imagine his life without her. He still remembered when he used to be contrary at the idea of becoming father and now he would have wanted to slap that idiot guy who understood nothing at all.   
Without even realized it he reaching an hand toward Stefan and caressed his cheek.  
Stefan was surprised by the affection he felt in that gesture. He wasn’t used to it anymore, not by someone who wasn’t Eri or Lexi.   
He almost lost his grip on the blood bad. The couch wasn’t expensive or particularly nice, but blood was difficult to clean off.   
The Hunter closed his eyes and he enjoyed the magnificent sensation Klaus was transmitting to him.   
He looked the Original Hybrid in the eyes and his felt his breath taken away and his heart beat faster again.   
Wasn’t He depressed ? How could be possible that Klaus was able to make him feel that way even during depression ? How could be possible that his heart hadn’t been able to feel anything all that day but that moment ? With Klaus ?   
Cade told him he gave the gift of telepathy, Stefan hasn’t used it yet but he knew it would have been useless. And nevertheless he would have done anything to read Klaus’ mind, to know if, even a little part of the hybrid, felt the same feelings he was feeling in that moment.   
It was like he was seeing Klaus for the first time.   
It was like his dirty blond hair became golden thread, his beautiful blue eyes became silver and suddenly he sensed a bright aura coming from Klaus, he could see it for a second, before disappear.

“You’re an angel…” said Stefan without thinking.

He didn’t even remember what Klaus had asked him before. The truth was that his mind was in a complete black out.   
Klaus instead remained surprised and shocked.   
No one ever called him “Angel”, no one who knew him too well and Stefan had seen his bad self so he shouldn’t say things like that.

“Such a mystery you are for me…” Klaus whispered.

“An awful mystery who sees the world in black and grey” Stefan laughed bitterly.

“Don’t do like that. Depression won’t go away, it could pass for a short period of time but it always returns.”

“I don’t need a diagnosis about my depression.” said Stefan harshly.

“No, you need help. I don’t know if I’m the best person for it, probably not. But I really want to be your friend and you have to let me in. You have to learn how to trust again. I used to be like you, Stefan. I used to see everything in black and grey, I was anger, paranoid, full of hatred, aggressive, manipulative, I used to use and abuse of people who wanted nothing more than being my friend. Because of this I almost lost my family forever. I don’t want this to happen to you. Your daughter loves you, and you love her as well and nevertheless your love is not enough to push you to fight against your depression.”

Stefan didn’t tell anything.   
What Klaus’s already said was a painful truth Stefan wasn’t ready to accept.

“I’m sorry if what I said upsets you, love, but it’s the truth and you have to accept”

“So… do you want become my new therapist ?”

“I want to help you. Maybe one day you’ll stop to see life in black and grey”

Klaus almost didn’t recognize himself. It didn’t happen often that he wanted help someone because he truly meant it, without wanting something in return.  
Actually, he wanted something from Stefan but it wasn’t what he usually expected from anyone else… loyal… obedience… fear…  
He wanted something else from Stefan… he wanted his trust and his friendship. Maybe even something more but it was too early to say it.   
Instead Stefan could say that he was starting to see white again.   
Klaus’s never looked so bright and shining like in that moment.  
Stefan wasn’t sure if the hybrid was his soul to save but if his company was enough to make him see white again then he was happy.  
Klaus was right, Stefan had to fight his depression and he needed someone to help him.   
The hybrid was his only hope to be saved from both depression and Devil and Stefan needed him, now more than ever.


	9. Sudden Developments

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stefan and Klaus share important moments together that improve their fresh friendship.  
> Klaus is determinate to make Stefan understand how strong is his wish to be his friend, while Stefan is determinate to keep Klaus safe from Cade.  
> Marcel is determinate to get his revenge against Klaus and his family, so he asks help to an old enemy of Klaus, while Kol finds out a disconcerting truth about one of his siblings.

CHAPTER 9

  
Stefan was feeling better, really better. He couldn’t say to be happy, but he was glad to have a new friend, but now he was spending some time by himself to write down his past days on his journal.  
Two weeks passed from his last “Depression day” and from then, Klaus and Stefan developed a strong friendship.  
They spent a lot of time together, sometime Klaus accompanied Stefan to hunt in the woods. The first time had been hilarious.

…

_“You don’t have to accompany me. I can take care of myself and I’m sure you’re going to be annoyed” said Stefan trying to find some rabbits around there._

_“Actually I want to see you hunting poor rabbits, love. I’m stil not completely convinced that you truly prefer that crap over human blood” said Klaus with a grudge._

_“You’ve never tried it. How can you say that ?” asked Stefan clearly kidding the other._

_“Are you really asking that question ?” asked Klaus with wide eyes._

_He hoped Stefan was joking because there was no way that him, Klaus Mikealson, drank animal blood. No way._  
_Okay, he was trying to change, to become a better man, but not at the point to change his diet. He was a vampire, for God’s sake, and not a normal one, he was the Original Hybrid, he couldn’t drink animal blood._  
_His siblings would have made fun of him for the rest of his life, which in his case, meant the eternity._  
_Stefan bursted out._  
_He still couldn’t believe that Klaus had accepted to accompany him to hunt in the woods._  
_Klaus contacted him in the morning to ask what he was planning to do that day, so Stefan told him that he was going to hunt in the wood._  
_At that point Klaus offered to accompany him. Stefan warned him by saying that he would get bored but the original insisted._  
_So there we were…_  
_Stefan hunted the first three bunnies and he was going to eat the fourth while a mischievous idea came into his mind._

_“Hey, don’t you want to try it ?” asked Stefan reaching the death bunny toward Klaus._

_“What ? Are you talking with me ?” asked Klaus with wide eyes and feeling almost insulted._

_Did the little toddler have a death wish ?_  
_Apparently yes or he would have thrown that tedious puppy miles away from him._  
_Stefan didn’t seem scared by his deadly gaze, instead he was smiling even more, challenging him to taste animal blood._

_“You’re not going to convince me.” said Klaus._

_“Seriously ? Okay… I’m too hungry to insist” said Stefan drinking the blood of his last victim._

_Stefan drunk the blood slowly, enjoying every single drop. Animal blood was bitter and not so much appetizing but for Stefan was a little consolation. Killing animals was bad, but not cruel and it wouldn’t damn his soul to hell forever. But he’s never used it to seduce someone. He let few drops sliding along the chin, then he licked them with his young, slowly and sensually._  
_When he looked the hybrid in the eyes, he noticed that Klaus was observing his tongue almost hypnotized._  
_The truth was that Klaus considered Stefan’s mouth really sexy… The way his tongue was licking the blood was making Klaus desiring to devour that mouth._  
_It was bizarre because he’s never been into guys but Klaus really wanted to kiss Stefan in that moment._  
_Stefan was loving the way Klaus was looking at his mouth and for a moment he truly wanted Klaus to kiss him but it wouldn’t have been appropriate. He finished to lick the blood on his chin then he buried the bunny in the ground._

_“Well, it was good so I’m glad you didn’t accept my offer. It would’ve been such a waste” said Stefan cleaning his hands._

_“I highly doubt it ! I can say from the smell that it was a crap. Now, if you’ve done, let’s go”_

_“I don’t like being ordered around !” exclaimed Stefan._

_“Get use to it !! Let’s go!!” repeated Klaus grabbed Stefan by his arm and drag him away._

_Stefan didn’t oppose, he was smiling actually._  
_He knew Klaus would be in a bad mood after their morning hunt, but he was glad that the hybrid was there with him._  
_Klaus instead was irritated and for the moment he wanted to put some distance between him and the toddler who were making him feel strange sensations._

…

Now Stefan was praying in Church with Eri. His musume was happy, maybe for the first time in her life. She was developing a deep friendship too, with Hope. The two got along pretty well, always beg their fathers to spend more time together.  
Eri was older than Hope and she has developed a deep sense of protection toward her new friend, but she still didn’t feel great sympathy for Klaus, but at least she was trying.  
Going in Church was another thing that Klaus found unusual but he hasn’t offered to accompany Stefan there yet and the younger vampire was sure that he would never do.

…

_Stefan had a long night, and for long, he meant that he had killed ten people that night. Ten and now the guilt was suffocating him, but he couldn’t show it. He had to resist, he had to be strong and he needed to pray._  
_So he was sitting in Church, with his rosary in his hands covered by gloves to hide the bracelet, wet cheeks and completely tired. He just wanted to go home and sleep. He truly needed some rest._  
_Eri was sitting at his side, as always. She never left him alone, not even for a second and Stefan was truly happy to have her in his life._  
_She was his one and only constant, his one only hope and light, always loyal to him. Always there to give strength to him._

_“…Amen” said Stefan making the sign of the cross._

_Eri did the same after few seconds. It was difficult to explain but praying was cathartic for her too, not because she had the same strong faith in God as her otōsan, but because it gave her a strong, deep sense of pace._  
_Stefan took her musume’s little hand and then they went out from Church._  
_They came back home, then Stefan feel asleep on the couch, but not before that Eri absorbed his pain so could take some rest too without being hungry._  
_That afternoon they had planned to spend some time with Klaus and Hope._  
_Stefan and Eri had spent the last three days on their own, trying to figure out various things, for example how to keep alive their new social life despite Stefan’s double life._  
_Stefan showed to have great difficult to control his new power, the telepathy, specially because he hasn’t learnt how to distinguish when someone was talking to him or just thinking something._  
_For Stefan there wasn’t much difference anymore and because of this he found himself in various embarrassing situations._  
_So he had to do practice with Eri._  
_She thought or said something and Stefan had to understand what she’s done of the two actions._  
_He got wrong a lot of time at the beginning but now he was starting to improve._  
_Of course he couldn’t read Klaus’ thoughts and if a part of him craved to know what the hybrid thought about him, another part was fully relieved that he couldn’t._  
_Klaus made him feel normal, forget about who he was, forget about Cade and his stupid gifts. Stefan woke up when his phone rang. He reached for his cell and almost made it fallen on the ground._

_“Hello ?” said Stefan._

_“Hi love ! Were you sleeping ?” asked Klaus almost amused._

_“What ? No !” answered Stefan too quickly._

_“You were. At least I know why you’re making me wait.”_

_“Wait for what ?” asked Stefan._

_Then he remembered and he jumped from the couch. He completely lost time cognition, he even forgot to put an alarm clock to wake him up on time._  
_Where was Eri ? Was she still sleeping too ? Probably not. She payed more attention about their appointments than him._

_“Are you still there love ?” asked Klaus._

_“Yes. Ehm… Yes I was sleeping and I’m going to be late. Please, just wait some minutes”_

_“Okay, love. Don’t worry. You will make you forgive by me later.”_

_Klaus hang up and Stefan went to call Eri, who was practicing with some spells._  
_She had just looked him in the face to remember that they were late for their meeting with Klaus and Hope._  
_She closed up her book and threw it away._  
_They didn’t even change outfit, only combing their hair and washing teeth._  
_Stefan left his bracelet in the first drawer of his bedside table._  
_They arrived in the French Quarter and there they met Klaus and Hope, there was also Hayley with them._  
_It wasn’t surprising. After having found out that Eri was a kitsune, Hayley didn’t trust so much to leave Hope alone with her without her constant supervision._  
_Eri didn’t seem disturbed by it._

_“Hi !” said Stefan and Eri._

_“Hello sleepy beauty. I was coming to look for you” said Klaus when he saw them._

_“Sorry for the wait. I fell asleep” said Stefan._

_“Yes, it was quite obvious from the yawns I heard when you answered to me”._

_‘Oh God, he does likes to kid this guy’, Hayley thought and of course Stefan heard it._  
_He also read Eri’s thought ‘Omae, iyana yatsu!’ (You dickhead !). Stefan gave her a little pat on the back and Eri rolled her eyes._  
_She hated not be free anymore to think whatever she wanted. Eri took Hope’s hand and the two started to walk ahead, with Hayley at their side._

_“She didn’t trust Eri, did she ?” asked Stefan to Klaus._

_“She’s scared of her Kyuubi. We don’t know a lot of things about her kind. Eri gave me more informations but… We…”_

_“It’s okay, people usually are afraid of what they don’t understand. You and Hayley don’t understand Eri, her kind, you don’t know what she can do and if I have to be sincere I don’t know it either”_

_“Because she hasn’t developed all her powers yet, right ?” asked Klaus._

_“Not exactly. She suffers because of her condition, a lot. I pray for her to be happier in the future. I’ve spent almost the entire night in Church, this was because I felt asleep on the couch” said Stefan looking at Eri._

_“Wait, did you spend all night in the Church ? Are you so religious ?” asked Klaus with wide eyes._

_“I can say I am. A lot of things happened in my life that pushed me to go to Church frequently. I don’t know but it’s cathartic for me. I always feel better after my prayers”_

_“I can’t believe. When I think to have figured you out, I learn something about you which surprise me again”_

_“Seriously ? I’m just a common person” said Stefan._

_“You ? Common ? Are you kidding me love ? You’re everything but common. You are a Rippah, who drinks animal blood and goes to Church and your daughter is a kitsune. You also proposed me to drink rabbit’s blood. Unbelievable”_

_“Oh come on. I met other vampires who were religious and who enjoyed going to Church with me.”_

_“Other vampires ? A lot of them ?” asked Klaus in a strange tone._  
  
_Klaus’ never been a religious guy, he didn’t believe in things like God, Heaven or Hell and he doubted he would ever accompany Stefan to Church, but the idea that someone else have disturbed him, a lot. The only idea that someone shared something with Stefan disturbed him._

_“Not so much, but they do exist. It’s a shame that I haven’t been in contact with them for a long time but as I said I’m not good at socializing” said Stefan shrugging._

_“One point remains, I would never go to Church. I’ve been there only few times and I hated each one of them”_

_“I can always pray for you on my own, I guess” said Stefan._

_“Why ? Would you really pray for me ?”_

_Klaus was stunned, even if he hided it pretty well. Why would Stefan pray for him ? For the safety of his soul ?_  
_Klaus should have warned the toddler not to waste his time, because he lost his soul a long time ago. Klaus didn’t believe in Hell, Paradise or God, but if he’d died, he was sure he would have burned in Hell forever. There couldn’t be any other place for a monster like him. But he’d lied if he said that he wasn’t feel flattered that Stefan would pray for him._

_“I would. When I go to Church I don’t pray only for myself. I pray for anyone I care, and I care about you. We are friends after all” said Stefan with a little smile._

_“Yes, we are friends” said Klaus smiling._

…

But of course things weren’t so easy.  
Klaus was still fighting a war against Marcel and Stefan had still find a way to recreate Klaus’ bloodline. He couldn’t force Klaus, or better, he could but he didn’t want to. Someone broke his former bloodline, which was a sort of insurance policy for his safety from his enemies, after that Klaus spent five time being tortured by Marcel.  
Stefan understood quickly that “Bloodline” was a forbidden topic for Klaus.

…  
  
_Stefan understood as soon as he looked Klaus in the face when the original knocked up at his door, that he was in a bad mood, worst even. Since Klaus knew where Stefan lived, he usually came over his apartment to spend some time with him, away from his family, specially after a fight._  
_Stefan didn’t know a lot about Klaus’ family, but he used to have a family himself, he knew that a all families had their own dramas, Mikaelson ones wasn’t an exception._  
_Eri tolerated his visits, sometimes when she saw that Klaus was particularly torn, she also offered to absorb his pain._  
_The first time, Klaus refused, probably because he was scared of being hurt, but then Stefan showed him how it was, so the hybrid let the little kitsune to absorb his pain after that._  
_Now Klaus was sitting on his couch with a glass of blood, human blood, gently offered by Stefan._  
_Since Klaus’ first visit, Stefan managed to steal some blood bags from the nearest hospital in New Orleans, so he could offer something decent to drink to the hybrid. Of course, he didn’t drink human blood with Klaus, and the hybrid, strangely, kept a certain distance while he was drinking human blood._  
_Apparently, even if Klaus didn’t share Stefan’s attributed toward blood, he at least was making an effort to accept and respect it and Stefan was grateful for that._  
_That particular day, Klaus fought with Elijah about the new recruits._  
_Apparently the toddlers were very unruly, incapable of controlling their bloodlust and for now they were too few to defeat Marcel’s army._

_“… but the bad news don’t ended here. Marcel’s looking for allegiance and he found a powerful ally” said Klaus drinking some blood from his glass._

_“Who ?” asked Stefan who was sitting next to him._

_“Alistair Duquesne, he’s the leader of a powerful and extensive group of vampire. When he found out that Marcel was keeping me as prison he wanted to kill me, but Marcel refused it. Marcel wanted me to suffer for a long time, Alistair instead wanted a quick and bloody death.”_

_“But now you’re free”._

_“Alistair isn’t happy for this, at all. If Marcel propose to him an allegiance, I’m sure, he will accept it. Without an adequate army, Marcel and Alistair are going to destroy my family forever”._

_Stefan had to admit that it wasn’t a simple situation. Marcel was anger and stronger than ever, especially because he suspected that the mysterious killer was one of the Mikealson’ siblings._  
_Stefan knew that because he read the mind of one of his vampires. At this point, the only sensible thing to do was to try to make piece with Marcel, but Stefan knew that if he tried to suggest it to Klaus, the Original would have ripped his heart out within a second._  
_Klaus became furious any time they mentioned his former adoptive son and Klaus quickly changed subject._  
_Anyway, Stefan didn’t want Klaus to compromise himself and his family for his pride and arrogance._

_“Why can’t you try to make a deal with Marcel ?” Stefan asked quietly._

_“I’m going to ignore your stupid proposal Stefan. You know what I think about Marcel and everything about him”_

_“Klaus, you can’t let your proud and your hatred clouding your judgment. You have to consider that, sooner or later, maybe the best solution would be make a deal with Marcel and put an end on this war without further conflicts.” said Stefan calmly._

_“I can assure you that it won’t be an option. Ever. When I got free, I promised to myself that I would have put his head on a spike, that I would have become King again. I’m not going to surrender”_

_“Klaus, I’m no proposing you to give up. I just want you to consider all the options. You have to.”_

_“Since when you’re an expert of war, Stefan ? I also remember that you killed eight vampires not to be involved in this conflict, what now ? Changed your mind ?” asked Klaus who was getting angrier._

_Stefan sighed. The last thing he wanted was to fight with Klaus, but that didn’t mean he had to agree with him. Stefan wasn’t an expert of war, his priority wasn’t who become the new King of New Orleans or not, his priority was to save Klaus’ so in order to save his own ones._  
_For saving Klaus’ should, Stefan knew he had to start from his relationship with Marcel._  
_Klaus was a complicated man, paranoid, vengeful, and not propense at forgive when someone hurt him or his family, and Marcel hurt both. Klaus always resolved his problems by murder, killing and revenge, that was why he had a lot of enemies._  
_But now Klaus wasn’t in he right mood for listening Stefan’s wise advice, so the younger vampire changed the subject._

_“What are you planning to do with the pre recruits at this point ?” asked._

_“We need more of them. Elijah, Kol and Rebekah had turned…”_

_“And you ?” Stefan interrupted him._

_Klaus looked at him with a severe look, probably he didn’t appreciate to be interrupted or probably it was because Stefan didn’t miss to notice something he shouldn’t have. The fact that Klaus wasn’t ready to create a new bloodline._  
_Klaus wasn’t ready to answer that question. Stefan wasn’t a fool, he lived with a kitsune, he could smell a lie kilometers and that made Klaus feel constantly with his backs to the wall._  
_But he wasn’t ready to reveal to Stefan that a dump little witch dared to use a magic spell on him to brake his bloodline; that his bloodline put him on a trial for his head where they had reproved him all his cruelties toward them; above all, he feared Stefan’s judgement, which was ridiculous because vampires didn’t care about anyone and anything._  
_But Klaus wasn’t a vampire like that anymore, the last five years broke him down and damaged him beyond repair and he would never forgive Marcel for this._

_“Why should I force myself into turn someone when my siblings do it for me ?” asked in an arrogant tone._

_“I don’t know, I heard someone say something about the sire link. I just thought that an original vampire like you had more… authority, if I can say so, over his bloodline. You said yourself that you enjoy having power over people” said Stefan shrugging._

_“Yeah, I assume you belonged to my bloodline…” said Klaus in a whisper._

_It would have made sense. Katherine belonged to his bloodline, Klaus was sure of it and Stefan told him that she had turned both him and his brother, so Stefan used to belong to his bloodline. That made Klaus feel even worse. The knowledge that there used to be a link which united him and Stefan, now broken, made him feel sad._

_“You mean belong” said Stefan trying to ignore the pain in his chest._

_Stefan knew that Klaus said well, but he couldn’t know it, so he had to pretend not to know anything._

_“Yes, as you say. But I don’t want to create new vampires, for now. Maybe one day, but not now” said Klaus finishing his blood._

_‘Unfortunately, you don’t have a lot of time anymore’ Stefan thought avoiding to look the other._  
_No Bloodline… No live…_  
_That was Cade’s condition to keep Klaus alive. If Klaus didn’t turn anyone, Stefan should have to kill him, because the hybrid was a sinner._  
_Stefan didn’t want hurt Klaus, but years spent being a Sinner Hunter had been useful to teach him how to be selfish._  
_Stefan didn’t have to think only about Klaus’ feelings, he had to think about his own safety, about Eri’s happiness, about the future that could still have together._  
_In few words, Klaus wasn’t the only one who risked to loos everything._

_“Do you want another drink ?” asked Stefan politely._

_“No thanks. I think that I’m going to come back home. I have things to do” said Klaus putting the glass on lyle table in from of the couch._

_“Okay. Feel free to come back when you want. I enjoyed spending time with you” said Stefan accompanying the other at the door._

_“My, what a liar !!” exclaimed Klaus laughing “See you tomorrow”_

_“Tomorrow” said Stefan opening the door._

_Klaus smiled then he went away._  
_Stefan closed the door and sighed. Could the things be worse ? Of course not._

_“Did he go away ?” asked Eri going out from her bedroom._

_“Yes, he did. And before you ask, no, he doesn’t have any intention of recreating another bloodline. I have to find a way for convincing him or…”_

_“Obliging him. I’m sorry to say it, but war or not, Marcel Gerard or not, he has to have his own bloodline to remain alive. Maybe I can invoke a Malach a use it on him”_

_The Malach are a race of tentacled creatures that possessed the living or undead. They spread a virus in people they possessed, of the size of a pinhead or big enough to swallow their entire arm._  
_Stefan saw Eri invoked a Malach once and he considered it disgusting to look._

_“This is out discussion, Eri. If you use a Malach and Klaus found it out, he would understand quickly that you’re involved. That we are involved and we will be in danger”._

_“Then what do you propose ?” asked Eri crossing her arms._

_“I can’t do nothing. But the Hunter can.”_

_“Not without the risk of exposing yourself. What if he found out the real identity of the mysterious killer ?” asked Eri._

_“You have to help me. Eri. What is that a kitsune does best ?” asked Stefan with a mischievous smile._

_“Cause conflict, caos… do you want me to cause conflict ?”_

_“What I need is an opportunity. I can’t use compulsion on Klaus when he’s alone. Or when he came back home from my house, it would be suspected. What I need is an opportunity, okay ? And a scapegoat”_

_“Marcel will be your scapegoat ?” asked Eri with distrust._

_“Listen me up, Eri.” said Stefan getting on his knees and taking her hands” Maybe you don’t like the plan, but I will be damn before decide to put you in danger.”_

_“I trust you and no one will suspect of us. This town is collapsing into war and caos, no now will suspect a thing about a kitsune”_

_Stefan truly hoped she was right._  
_Eri was a kitsune, she knew how to create caos and conflict, it was a natural talent for her._  
_Stefan asked her to use that talent only once before._  
_They were in Paris and there was a conflict between two covens of witches._  
_One of the coven knew he was a Sinner Hunter and threatened him to use him and Eri to win the conflicts._  
_Eri had to use her powers to increase the caos and the conflicts in one night. The witches were so busy to destroy each other and forgot about him. The next morning, both of the coven were destroyed by the Sinner Hunter, the Hellfire, and their own stupidity._

…

Stefan closed his journal. For the moment, he wrote everything important. He put his journal under the mattress, not an original hiding place, but efficient.  
What Stefan didn’t know it was that other two people were brooding about the recent events.  
Marcel was one of them.  
The truth was that he hasn’t stopped, not even for a second, to think about the mysterious murder.  
He was convinced that it was Elijah, he was ready to put an hand on fire for it, but he couldn’t prove it. He couldn’t even order to his vampires to spy on Elijah, because they were afraid of Mikealsons.  
Elijah in the first place because them, as their leader, had the huge suspect that he could be the mysterious murderer and secondly because the original never left the side of the other siblings.  
Marcel had to find a way to destroy Mikaelsons, for the only exception of Hayley and Hope, so he need and ally.

…

_Marcel was waiting in a pub in New York. He was tired after having spent hours in his car to arrive there. At least he hoped his journey would not be a waste of time._  
_He didn’t have so much time, he had to come back in New Orleans before Klaus and the other noticed his absence and suspected of him._  
_Klaus knew who was in New York in that period, Alistair Duquesne._  
_He was a powerful vampire who harbored a deep hatred toward Klaus._  
_Marcel had Alistair’s allegiance during Klaus’ imprisonment, but then Alistair expected him to kill Hayley and Hope, and then Klaus too, to have revenge against the hybrid._  
_At that point Marcel broke their allegiance, now he regretted that._  
_He needed Alistair to destroy Klaus once and for all._  
_A voice behind him distracted him from his thoughts._

_“Sorry for late, Mr Gerard. Have you waited for long ?” asked Alistair sitting in front of him._

_“Please, Alistair, avoid pleasantries. You know why I’m here, you know what I want from you”._

_Alistair smirked “Of course I do. You want to kill the Mikaelsons once and for all, I want the same. But last time we were allies you didn’t have the gut to put a dagger inside Klaus’ chest.”._

_“I wanted him to suffer”_

_“You’ve waited for too long. If you had killed him when you had the possibility, instead of keeping him like an useless trophy for your proud, now we would have been free of him forever”._

_Marcel was going to reply but a young waitress came closer to their table and asked them their ordinations. After that, she took leave with a smile of courtesy._  
_Marcel was angry, but he had to control himself. He truly needed Alistair’s allegiance. Months ago, when he refused to kill Klaus after Alistair had almost begged him of doing it and Marcel refused it, Alistair felt wounded pride. As if Marcel didn’t give the right consideration of his allegiance._  
_Months ago, Marcel didn’t have any idea that Hayley could find a cure to save all the Mikaelsons and free Klaus. Months ago he was convinced to be invincible, that nothing and no one could stop him, but he was wrong and now he had to repair the mistakes caused by his own blindness._

_“I made a mistake. Now I need your help. Klaus is back, he knows that you want him dead, he known about our allegiance and…”_

_“Who did tell him ?” asked Alistair studying him carefully with his eyes._

_If Alistair was angry, shocked, terrified it was impossibile to say. He remained impassive, as they were talking about the weather instead of killing of one of the most dangerous creatures in the world._  
_Alistair had always had the power not to make Marcel feel at ease around him._  
_Id didn’t matter the Marcel was the Beast and eventually more powerful than Alistair. The blond vampire intimidated him anyway._

_“It wasn’t me. People talk, that’s all”_

_“Yes, people always talk. Indeed, I know that your last fight with Klaus didn’t end well for you. You almost lost your head”_

_Marcel was going to answer back but the waitress arrived again with their ordinations._  
_Marcel was tempted of breaking the glass on Alistair’s head and rip his heart out of his chest._  
_How could he know about his fight against Klaus ?_  
_Marcel would have known if Alistair had spies in New Orleans to keep him under control. New Orleans was his kingdom, Marcel knew everything about everyone._

_“You seem surprised. You shouldn’t. I knew that I should have kept an eye on you. You think to be smart and invincible, I know that your own blindness would have been your ruin and I wasn’t wrong. A moment of distraction from you and Klaus is free and ready to take his crown back” said Alistair drinking from his glass._

_“There’s no need to remember me my faults. I get it.”_

_“I don’t think so. The point is that I don’t trust you, at all. If you want my help, you have to proven to be worthy of my time first.”_

_“What do you want me to do ?”_

_Of course it wouldn’t have been easy. Marcel screwed up everything last time he met Alistair. Now, one main question remained, what would Marcel have been willing to do to destroy Klaus ?_  
_Alistair smirked, conscious to have Marcel in his grasps._  
_The truth was that Alistair wasn’t interest in Marcel’s allegiance, not only. His spies talked him about a mysterious murder, apparently more powerful than the Beast himself._  
_If Alistair played his cards well, he would have destroyed not only the Former King of Vampires, but also the Beast and then he would become the New King._

_“Cheers” he said before finishing his glass._

…

Another person who had a productive week was the one of the youngest Mikaelson, Kol. He was doing some researches about the mysterious murder, it wasn’t exiting for him, doing researches and spending the biggest part of his time rummaging between the paperwork of his mother but it was a good way not to think about Davina.  
Her death was still a painful open wound in his heart, and he hasn’t forgotten his siblings yet.  
Everyday, seeing Elijah and Freya in the eyes, trying to be nice with them, trying to put it up with them, just being in the same house with them was a pain in the ass for him.  
Anyway, the time spent on his mother’s books was productive.  
He found out a lot interesting things.

…

_Kol knew that his mother practiced various type of magic, she didn’t refuse to use dark magic, but he remained quite surprised when he found out that his mother had a worrying interesting toward Demonic Magic._  
_There were full pages about Sirens, creatures that Kol didn’t even think existed._  
_Apparently these sirens existed since 750 B.C. but there were any other previous testimonies, but that wasn’t exactly what matter to Kol._  
_Instead he focused himself on how they had been created and on what they had to do to stay alive._  
_One of the two Sirens studied by his mother, made a deal with a demoniac creature who give powers to her and the other siren._

_“Deal with devil… creepy !” commented Kol with a delighted grin._

_There wasn’t the name of the demon on the pages, but apparently he had been able to resurrected one of the girl and made her immortal._  
_Probably his mother wanted to have more informations about Immortality. Maybe she knew that her spell of vampirism would have been quite imperfect and so she wanted to improve it._  
_A knock on the door caught his attention._

_“I’m busy !” said Kol._

_“Hi Kol ! I’m Bekah, can I come in ?” asked Rebekah._

_“Yes, come in” said Kol._

_Rebekah came in and sat next to Kol, looking at the papers._  
_After all that happened between Kol, Freya and Elijah, Rebekah was the only sibling he still had a good relationship with._  
_Their family made her suffer too, Klaus in the first place, killer a lot of her boyfriends, so she could understand Kol’s grief pretty well._

_“Found something interesting ?” asked Rebekah._

_“I guess. Did you know that our mother was interested in demoniac magic ?”_

_“Demoniac magic ? I wouldn’t be surprised but I can’t say that she practiced it. Why ? Did she ?”_

_“I don’t know. She was interested in Sirens. Their story is closely linked with demoniac magic. I believed that she wanted to know more about their story to improve her spell for vampirism but…”_

_“But ?”_

_“These pages said that only two sirens are known, one of them died and then resurrected by a demon.”_

_“So ? What’s strange ? We died and then resurrected too”_

_“Yes but when the demon resurrected the girl she became a slave of him. She had to kill people, bad people, in his name. It was like she had made a deal with devil.”_

_“A deal to come back alive and be immortal. The lives of their victims in change of their immortality. Creepy. But what has this to do with the mysterious murderer ?”._

_“I made other researches. These Sirens, could only kill bad people, sinners. After few centuries they were known as Sinner Huntress. But they weren’t the only two. Others creature apparently made a deal with devil to be completely immortal. They have no weakness because devil keeps them alive.”_

_Kol could say that his sister still didn’t understand what he wanted to say so he continued._

_“I made some researches about the victims of the mysterious murderer and all of them were sinners, rapist, thieves, murderers. Each one of them was guilty of unforgivable crimes.”_

_“So do you think that a… Sinner Hunter is responsible for the homicides ?” asked Rebekah._

_“It’s an hypothesis. And I hope it remains an hypothesis”_

_“Why ? Do you suspect of someone ?”._

_“I’m afraid I do. Think about it, our mother knew about sirens, about their story, she knew that a deal with a Devil would have guaranteed the immortality to everyone of us.”_

_“Yes but she’s always hated what we became. This was the reason why she wanted to kill all of us”_

_“Yes but we died after the spell. She knew that we would come back alive but she casted a spell on us. What I mean… only one of us died… naturally… what if she…”_

_’The die is cast’ Kol thought and he could say that finally Rebekah was starting to understand what he wanted to say._

_“Do you think that she could have made a deal with a Devil to resurrect… do you…?” asked Rebekah shivering._

_“She’s already created another Hunter. Why not a Sinner Hunter too ?”_

_“Do you really think that… he could be alive ?”_

_“I think that there’s a huge possibility that Henrik is the Sinner Hunter. Yes”_

_“Oh my God…”_


	10. Bloodline

CHAPTER 10

  
If he wasn’t sure of being a vampire, Klaus would have swallowed an entire pack of aspirin, just to be sure that his apparent headache would pass. What was happening in his life ? First Marcel who imprisoned him for five years, then the mysterious murder, now Col who babbled about Henrik alive and slave of a Demon.   
He was tired, tired, of everything.

…

_3 HOURS AGO…_

_Klaus was waiting in the dining room with Elijah and Freya._   
_Hayley, Hope and Rebekah were out, they wanted to spend some time together doing girls things._   
_But Klaus knew it was an excuse. Why didn’t they invite Freya too ?_   
_Simple, because Kol needed to talk with them about the former, or not to former, youngest Mikaelson, Henrik._   
_He’s been waiting for almost a week, he wanted to wait, he wanted to be sure, before revealing to his siblings that Henrik may could be alive._

_“Did you remember that I… was making some researches about the mysterious murder ?” asked Kol tapping his gingers nervously on the table “Do you also remember that I’ve said that he remembered me about a tale where…”_

_“Yes Kol, we do. Can you come to the point now ?” asked Klaus a little nervous._

_One of his few spies told him that Marcel was trying to renew his allegiance with Alistair. They told him that Alistair asked to Marcel to do something to prove his loyalty toward him._   
_Now Klaus was determinate to find out the next move of the Beast and he didn’t have time to waste with stupid family reunion._

_“Don’t be impatient. I’m sorry if I’m stealing away from you pleasure time to spend with your new friend, but what I want to say is important and I don’t know how do it” said Kol irritated and frustrated._

_“Did Rebekah know about what you are going to say to us ?” asked Freya taking a glass of water._

_“Yes, but she decided not be here. She doesn’t appreciate my theory, it hurts her too much” explained Kol feeling the sudden need of drink something strong._

_“Theory ? I thought you wanted to tell us something more concrete than a theory” said Elijah a bit disappointed._

_“Could you just listen me up for a moment without whining please ? I’ve already said that I don’t know how to handle the situation and you’re not helping. Can you just shut up for the fuck sake ?”_

_When the other nodded, of course not without rolling their eyes, Kol sighed, the he repeated them all the things he discussed with Rebekah. He told them about the Sirens, their story, that their mother was particularly interesting to find out how could have been possibile that one of them resurrected from death, since no one of them was a witch._   
_Psychic and Witch are two different kinds, even if they shared some powers._   
_Then he said that the Sirens acted a lot like the mysterious murder and he explained why._

_“So, if I understand correctly, you’re telling us that the mysterious murder is a Sinner Hunter ?” asked Elijah a lit bit skeptical._

_“And that these Hunters kill bad people for devil ? In change of Immortality ?” asked Klaus._

_“Why was our mother interested in demonic magic ? It’s dark and dangerous. Dealing with devil is the worst thing someone could do, not matter if you’re human or undead, or a witch” said Freya._

_“I suspected that she wanted to create another Hunter. In case our father would have failed to kill all of us” said Kol._

_“Who ? Did you find out that we have another sibling who now hides his face under that black hood ?” asked Klaus with irony._

_If he had to be honest, he was done of siblings and family members appeared from nowhere. He still hasn’t forgotten what happened last time he had a family reunion. His mother who ganged up on him with Finn and Kol, then Davina resurrected his father to kill him, then Freya appeared and Dalia with her… all of them… somehow had put Hope’s life in danger and because of this he had to abandoned her several times._   
_Klaus loved his family but he didn’t forget that his own family was cause of pain for him in the past._

_“Maybe. I think that out mother made a deal with a devil to turn Henrik into a Sinner Hunter” said Kol all in a breath, almost like he was scared by his own words._

…

Henrik…  
Klaus hasn’t thought about him for a long time. Thinking about his littlest brother became so painful through the years that at some point, he imposed to himself to stop to think about the moment his life changed forever.  
He turned his humanity off, because he was too weak to handle with the pain and the sense of guilty he’s always felt since Henrik died. His father admitted that his determination in killing him was due to the death of the youngest of his true children.   
And Klaus would never forgive himself for that, because he was the first to think that he was the one to blame for Henrik’s death.  
How many time he thought ‘What if I was the one to die ?’, ‘What if I had been capable of saving his life ?’, ‘What if…’.  
History wasn’t made of if or but, and nevertheless Klaus couldn’t stop to wander about the life he would have lived if his brother remained alive.   
And now ? What should he do ?   
Look for Henrik ? Look for a Ghost ? A shattered memory of the past ?   
Kol said that for now it was only a theory and, as cruel as it may seem, Klaus hoped, even wanted that it remained a theory.   
He didn’t want another member of his family blaming him for his family, wanting revenge against him for something happen over a millennium ago.   
His family didn’t need that, he didn’t need it.   
The only thing he truly needed was someone to talk with, someone who listened him, without judge, without see him like a monster. The only person who has believed, since the started and until the end, that he could be a good man.  
The last woman he loved, the last woman he lost forever… Camille O’Connell.  
He had several visions of her, during his imprisonment, and she always gave him encouragements, always remembered him that she believed in him, that his family needed him and that he had to be strong.  
What would she say now ?   
‘Camille… I need you…’ he though touching her tomb with his fingers.

…

Marcel was ready.   
He knew what to do to prove his loyalty to Alistair.   
The oldest vampire was clear, he didn’t trust Marcel with Klaus, so the Beast was planning to kidnap Klaus and give him to Alistair. It was the only way to protect Hope, Hayley and Rebekah. If he gave Klaus to Alistair, the other maybe would have spared the rest of the Original Family, specially Hope.  
It didn’t matter if he hated Klaus with all his heart and wanted revenge against him, Marcel considered Hope his little sister anyway.   
When he held her in his arms it was the most beautiful sensation he’s ever felt.   
He loved Hope and he cared for her wellbeing, but Klaus… the hybrid deserved to pay.  
Because of him and for his bloody family, Marcel lost his, the one he created for himself.   
He lost Thierry, Diego, Cami and above all Davina. The girl he considered as his daughter, the one he promised to protect at the cost of his own life.  
Because of the Mikaelson, Marcel cried for her death tree times and risked to lose her as well.   
And now ? They were together again and they could start over. And him ? Alone, without anyone beside him.  
No, they couldn’t win again. Klaus couldn’t win again, it wasn’t fair. He wasn’t the victim, he was the main executioner of his own destiny.   
Of course he knew that kidnapping Klaus wouldn’t have been easy, but he had a plan. He ordered to three of his vampires to follow Klaus everywhere and keep him constantly updated on his position.   
He ordered them to be sure he was alone.   
He wanted to fight against Klaus alone and it wouldn’t be a simple neighborhood fight.  
He was tired of procrastinating, tired of living in the constant doubt of who, between him and Klaus, deserved to be the King of New Orleans.   
He needed a final proof that he was better than Klaus, then he would let Alistair take Klaus’ head.  
In that moment he heard his cell vibrate.  
He took it and saw that one of his vampires sent a message.

**_“The Mikaelson is alone. He’s in Lafayette Cemetery in front of Camille O’Connel tomb”_ **

‘How did he dare ?’ thought Marcel with anger. How did he dare visiting Camille’s tomb after being the main reason of her death ?   
He was going to pay for his hypocrisy.   
‘Better hurry up, who knows when I will have another occasion like this’ thought Marcel.

…

The last of the three vampires burned and turned into ashes.   
It has been a quick job. They were three idiots, strong but not strong enough, and not particularly skilled in body-to-body combat. They fought like drunks, like puppets with broken strings. Not particularly funny to play with.

“So, what’s the next move ?” asked Eri next to him.

“Marcel’s going to come here. I know, I can feel his thoughts. I knew he was planning to give Klaus to Alistair Duquesne but he didn’t know how do it. He’s been thinking about it for the entire week but now he’s tired of waiting” commented Stefan with a smirk.

“So what ? Does he want to fight against Klaus now ?” asked Eri a little bit skeptical.

“Alistair wants to kill Klaus by himself. Marcel needs his allegiance to defeat Mikaelson’s family once and for all. But before giving Klaus to Alistair, he needs to prove to himself first that his better than Klaus. That he is the King New Orleans really need. He needed.”

“Yeah, I can smell his fears. He lived in Klaus’ shadow for all his life and now he feared that he would always be his shadow. Funny, how insecure a creature can be, even when he know to be the stronger one” commented Eri rolling her eyes.

Stefan couldn’t say to disagree with her.   
Insecurity was of the few weakness the Beast still had. Marcel knew, in his heart, that Klaus would always be the best of the two, he just couldn’t accept it.   
Klaus already destroyed Marcel’s kingdom and he killed all his friends, he could do it again, but he wouldn’t.   
Stefan couldn’t feel Klaus’ thoughts, but if he had understood something about him, it was that he was planning a more cruel revenge for Marcel.  
Anyway, now Stefan needed to focus himself on Klaus and Marcel fight.   
He knew for sure that Marcel didn’t tell anyone, a part the three idiots he killed before, that he was planning to fight against Marcel. Probably to avoid to be humiliated in front of everyone. Matter of pride, in few words. It made the job easier for Eri.  
His lovely musume increased that insecurity day after day.

…

_Eri and Stefan, or better the Sinner Hunter, were walking near Marcel’s loft._   
_They knew they could found there some vampires who were loyal to the Beast, and they needed them._

_“Do you know what to do ?” asked Stefan to Eri._

_“If I didn’t, you wouldn’t have taken me with you.”_

_Eri’s eyes became gold, then she entered inside the vampires’ mind and increase the doubt._   
_‘Marcel is not a good leader, isn’t him ?’._

_“Who’s talking ?” asked one of the vampire who perceived a voice in his head._

_But Eri didn’t let him distract her._   
_‘Marcel let a lot of you die… He showed to be incapable of defending you’._   
_The vampires stopped to question about the voice in their head, because now what the voice was saying was turning into their thoughts._   
_Now the vampires started to truly think what Eri was saying to them._   
_‘Everyone known who’s better between him and Klaus. Klaus would be a better leader. A better King…’._

_“Have you done ?” asked Stefan to Eri._

_“Yes, I’ve. Once his men started to doubt about his leadership, Marcel’s insecurity toward himself will increase.”_

_“Marcel will take in high consideration what his vampires think about him. He will feel the need to confront Klaus to understand who is the best”_

_“But first I have to increase the doubt in Marcel’s mind too. He has to be the first to believe is not good enough to rule New Orlean and when he finds out that his vampires believe the same, he will believe it even more. The fear to be inferior than Klaus will torment him…” commented Eri with a mischievous smile._

_“… At that point he will make a rash move and we will take advantage of it”_

_Otōsan and musume plotting together… not so much normal, but neither Stefan or Eri were normal._   
_It was in moment like that that Stefan remembered that his musume was a true kitsune. She was young but she was powerful, and Stefan felt that she would get her fifth tail very soon._   
_Normally a father shouldn’t encourage his own daughter to do things like that, but Eri was a kitsune and Stefan didn’t want her to feel shamed of her nature. As vampires drank blood, so kitsunes were deceptive and for them the lies and the tricks were like blood. They were irresistible for kitsune and Stefan didn’t want blame Eri for it._

_“Now we can go. We have still a lot of things to do. I’m reading in Marcel’s mind. He still thinking about Alistair’s proposal”_

_“Have you ever met him ?” asked Eri._

_“No. I would have killed him otherwise. I don’t think Alistair is a good person, or he would let Klaus and his family in piece”_

_“Maybe. But you don’t know why Alistair hated Klaus so much. Remember that only because you can’t feel Klaus’ sins, doesn’t mean he’s a good person. One person doesn’t have a lot of enemies without reasons” said Eri._

_“Yeah, come on”_

_They went away to stat another intese night to spend hunting sinners._   
_All the night Stefan tried to elaborate the next part of the plan._   
_Not knowing what Marcel was planning to do to get Alistair’s trust was making Stefan feel paranoid. Marcel was the King of New Orleans, what was certain, so he had all the power over the town and he could easily obtain the help of some witch to imprison Klaus’ again and let Alistair kill him._   
_‘What if I take the decision for him ?’._   
_In fact, Stefan could continue to manipulate Marcel, bring him to the limit._   
_Stefan’s already chose Marcel as scapegoat to push Klaus to retreat his bloodline, he just needed an occasion._   
_‘Marcel’s going to give me one’._

…

So there they were.  
Marcel determinate more than even to humiliate Klaus for his own reassurance, because he needed to prove to everyone, himself in the first place, that he was better than Klaus, that he deserved to rule, that he deserved everything Klaus used to have.  
Stefan felt pity for him.   
Poor little Beast who used to be manipulate by Klaus…   
Now there was someone else who was pulling the string up but Marcel couldn’t’ know it, couldn’t defend himself, because you couldn’t stop someone if you didn’t know he’s hurting you.  
He asked Eri to use her powers to manipulate Marcel’s find.   
He asked her to push Marcel the insane idea of kidnapping Klaus to give him to Alistair, but not before to have humiliated the hybrid himself.

“Are we going to enjoy the show or are we going to hunt ?” asked Eri a little bit annoyed.

“The hunt, of course. I have to compel someone to drag over here. Klaus needed someone to have another bloodline and Marcel would use compulsion on him to do it.”

“Can I ask you something first ?” asked Eri taking his hand.

Yes, shot”

“Are you sure about it ? The people Klaus will turn, are not sinner, they don’t deserve to be turned into something that maybe they don’t want to be”.

Stefan bit his lower lips, brooding about the right answer to give. The point was that there wasn’t a right answer, because he knew that what he was doing wasn’t right in the first place, but he didn’t have any other choice. Or this, or he would have to kill Klaus and lose the only possibility he had to escape Hell.   
Stefan may had feelings for Klaus, be he wasn’t just an idiot who cared, he couldn’t.   
Would Klaus suffered for what was going to happen ? Stefan was sorry for him, but not sorry enough to stop him.  
Klaus wasn’t the only one who risked to loose everything.

“I’m sure. Let’s go”

The fact that he wasn’t lying scared both Stefan and Eri.   
The end justifies the means… but sometime turned the people in monsters.

…

Klaus was going away. He spent too much time in the cemetery when he was supposed to be home with his family.   
Running away wasn’t the best way to handle the situation, but he truly needed some time alone. to think clearer about the entire situation.   
In that moment someone grabbed him by his shoulders and pushed him away on the opposite side of the cemetery.  
Whoever attacked him was fast, strong and obviously it was…

“Marcel… What the hell ?” asked Klaus getting on his feet.

Marcel didn’t answer to him, instead he tried to hit Klaus again, but the hybrid stopped him, he grabbed the Beast by his wrist, then he put an hand on his shoulder and threw him again the wall.

“What were you thinking to do ? Kill me ? Five years aren’t enough for you ?” asked Klaus screaming.

“Only you death… only your death will be enough for me !!” screamed Marcel punching Klaus in his face and attempting to bite him.

The hybrid avoided his attack, the put an arm behind his neck and then he hit Marcel in his stomach with a knee. Then he grabbed Marcel by his shoulders and threw him away from him.

“What is this charade for ? Why now ?” asked Klaus angry.

“Because I’m tired !! I’m tired of seeing you taking all the things I love away from me !!! I’m done with you and I don’t want to wait anymore. I want you dead !!”

Marcel attacked again, he punched Klaus in the stomach and then in the face, then he grabbed his throat and continued.

“I should have killed you after the first year… I should have get rid of you and your tedious family but I didn’t. I admit that my own arrogance prevented me to do the right thing. Now I’m going to remedy.”

“Are you so convinced ?”

Klaus blew Marcel’s face with the elbow twice, Marcel lost the grip on Klaus.  
Klaus pushed him away, but he didn’t attack the other. Not because he didn’t want hurt Marcel, but because there was something that wasn’t convincing Klaus.  
Marcel was acting strange, as he was under compulsion, as he was being controlled by someone else.  
Alistair ? Probably. Klaus’ sources warned him that Marcel and Alistair met, maybe in that occasion Alistair had done something on Marcel to put on that pathetic show.  
Even if Klaus wasn’t the number one fan of Marcel, he knew him too well.   
Marcel was a soldier mind, he was methodic, he was meticulous, he didn’t do harsh moves. But now he seemed to have completely lost control. What did happen ?   
He didn’t have to wait for answer.

“You know what the other think about me ? That I’m incapable of defending them. That I’m not able to rule New Orleans, that you should be the King, that I’m not good enough compared to you !!”

Marcel tried to punch Klaus again, but the hybrid stopped his attack, then he grabbed his jacket and approached his face to his own.

“Who tells this ? Alistair put this lies inside that little head of yours ?”

“Alistair is the only one who truly believes me. He offered me his allegiance once, but I made the mistake to refuse it. Now he’s willing to give me a second chance, but he wants me to prove my loyalty.”

“By killing me ?” asked Klaus hitting Marcel and then trowing him away from him.

Marcel fell on the ground, but he stood up again and bursted out.  
Klaus looked at him as he had completely lost it, and maybe Marcel truly had.   
Maybe the madness was the inevitable consequence of years of anger and hatred, who knew it ?  
Maybe Klaus was right, maybe it was only a pathetic charade, but Marcel didn’t care because he was determinate to humiliate Klaus until his death.

“Actually, he simply asked me to prove myself. I decided that there couldn’t be a better way to do it than giving him the head of his created enemy on a silver platter”

“Do you think that in this way you’re going to prove to everyone to be my better ?” asked Klaus with irony.

“My vampires will believe in me again. They will see, everyone will se the difference between you and me. Because I’ve alway been better than you and I’ll always be !!”

“Who are you trying to convince ah ? No one will believe in you because you’re the first who knows that you are doomed to be the shadow of my light… always and forever”

“This… is… for… DAVINA !!”.

Marcel was done. He wanted Klaus dead now. He was tired of speaking, tired of explaining himself, he didn’t need it.   
What he needed was a moment like that alone with Klaus. A moment to taste completely, a moment where Marcel would finally win over Klaus.   
Marcel waited for that moment so long, he dreamed it in his most beautiful dreams. He craved for revenge for so long…   
When he was going to attack again a voice in his head stopped him.  
 _‘Why don’t humiliate him first ? Why don’t make him suffer ? Show everyone the monster Klaus really is’_  
In that moment, five guys arrived at the cemetery, three boys and two girls.   
Klaus turned toward them, then rolled his eyes. Apparently, the charade was already over.  
But Marcel had something else in mind.  
 _‘Make him turn them… Show to his little girl what kind of monster her daddy truly is. Let his family know that he didn’t change at all…'_  
Quickly, what the voice said became his own thoughts and Marcel smiled cruelly.   
His body was shivering, the fury was burning through his veins, like a virus, a virus which was giving him strength.  
Faster than wind, Marcel grabbed Klaus’ face and look him in the eyes.

“Before you die… you have to make it up to me for having killed a lot of my vampires recently. There too empty spaces and now I have to fill them. Turn that guys…”

“No” said Klaus who was trying to resist at compulsion.

“Don’t try to resist me. You know you can’t. Now, turn them. Create a new bloodline, show to everyone that you didn’t change at all, that you’re the same of five years ago.”

“No !!” shouted Klaus.

“TURN THEM !!”

At that point, Klaus couldn’t resist anymore and the compulsion took over him.  
He attacked the guys, drinking their blood, one after one, obliging them to drink his own and then killing all of them.  
Klaus wanted to stop himself, he wanted to kill himself, in order to stop, but he couldn’t.   
His body didn’t follow his will anymore, he was nothing more than a puppy in Marcel’s hands.  
For once, after his death, he found the taste of blood horrible and he feared to vomit at some point.   
He wanted to go away, he wanted rip Marcel’s heart out, but the only thing he could do was trying that guys into monsters like him.   
Stefan, who was observing the entire scene with Eri, couldn’t feel anything.  
Was he satisfied ? No.  
Was he relief because now Cade couldn’t kill Klaus anymore ? No.  
Was he almost glad to have saved his soul to save ? No.   
Because in that moment Stefan wasn’t Klaus’ savior, but his executioner. Marcel hurt and compelled him, but Stefan was the one who ordered him to.  
Stefan was the true responsible for what was happening.   
If Klaus was suffering it was because of him.   
For a moment he was tempted to manipulate Marcel again in order to stop him, but he knew he couldn’t. Cade was clear. No Bloodline… No live for Klaus.  
Eri took her otōsan’s hand and started to absorb his pain. She was a kitsune, she could feel the pain and guilty grew inside Stefan’s heart and in that moment he couldn’t let feelings taking over him.  
By now the plan had begun and they couldn’t stop it anymore.   
Stefan wasn’t the only one who was feeling guilty, Marcel felt in that same way.  
He didn’t know why he acted in that way, he didn’t know what was happening to him, a part of him wanted to stop everything, because that wasn’t him.   
Klaus manipulated people and obliged them to do such horrible things, Marcel was different, he was better he was…  
‘A beast… everything I didn’t want to be’ Marcel thought.  
Klaus finally snapped the neck of le last guy, who fell on the ground.   
Now he was ready to run away, far far away from there.  
Marcel wanted to do something but again he heard a voice in his head.  
‘ _Go away, you coward. And remember… you’re guilty for this. You’re not better than Klaus’._  
So he did, he went away, incapable of doing or say something. The truth was that there was nothing to say. He had done this, he was responsible for that death of those guys. He was the monster.  
Klaus wanted to run away, follow Marcel, snap his neck and kill him once and for all, but he couldn’t. There were five guys who were doing to turn into vampires, he couldn’t just let them there.  
Now they belonged to their bloodline, they were his responsibility and now he found himself in front of two possibilities.  
The first suggested him to go away and ignore their fate.  
The second suggested him to take care of them, help them, avoid the mistakes he had done with his former bloodline.  
What did he suppose to do ?  
Could he be strong enough to start over ?   
‘ _Yes, you can do it. This is your new Bloodline, take care of them’_   
What the voice said, became Klaus’ own thought.  
He looked at the guys and he decided that he couldn’t abandoned them.  
He pick up the phone and called Elijah. Klaus would have need his help to carrie the guys to their home.

…

2 HOURS AFTER…

Stefan was in Church, but he couldn’t say he was praying, he couldn’t.   
He was crying, on his knees in front of the altar. He was begging God for forgiveness, for his safety, for what he had done.   
Stefan didn’t know how much time he spent there.   
Eri was home, he asked her to wait him there. He needed some time alone, he needed to drown in his sense of guilty alone.   
He needed to be a martyr for himself.  
He still had the expression of pain on Klaus’ face, while he was killing those guys and it was caused by him, his “new best friend”.   
‘I’m an hot mess…’ thought Stefan putting a hand to his chest.   
It almost hurt for how much he cried, but he didn’t care.  
He deserved to suffer, he deserved that pain and even more.

“God… I just want to die”

“A bit melodramatic, love. Don’t you think ?”

That voice made Stefan jumped. He was so focused on his own pain that he didn’t hear anyone arriving.   
He would have recognized that voice everywhere.   
He turned toward Klaus who was coming closer to him.

“Do you remember when I told you that I would never accompany you to Church ? Look at me now, another thing that I do only to spend some time with you” said Klaus forcing a laugh.

“I don’t think I’m so worthy of your time. I’m sure you have better things to do.” said Stefan lowering his gaze, not having the strength to look at Klaus anymore.

The hybrid got on his knees, in front of Stefan, and he gently grabbed his chin between his fingers.

“Look at me… please… I need you to look at me with your beautiful eyes” begged Klaus almost desperate.

Stefan obeyed, it became rather impossible saying no to Klaus.  
So he looked at Klaus and then his heart jumped.   
Klaus was crying too, and it was Stefan’s fault.   
He reduced Klaus in that way, he made him suffer.  
How could Stefan save Klaus if he was only able to lie and make him suffer ?   
He wanted to bed Klaus for forgiveness, scream at him to go away, that they weren’t friend, that Klaus would have been better without him, but the only thing of staying away from Klaus was painful.  
The younger vampire put an hand on Klaus’ cheek.

“You’re crying… I’m sorry…” said Stefan drying his tears.

“You shouldn’t be” said Klaus smiling “I made… I’m here… because I’ve done something terrible. I’ve killed five people tonight and now… I don’t know what to do”

“Klaus… I can’t help you with this. I’m a Ripper, remember ? I wouldn’t know what to do to help you”

“I simply need you to stay here with me. Marcel… obliged me to create a new bloodline and now I’m scared to death. I lost my bloodline once and know I’m scared to repeat the same mistakes.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know it. But you shouldn’t be afraid. Where are now ? The guys ?”

“At home. I told my siblings everything. I asked them to spend some time alone, so now they’re taking care of them.”

“Then you should stay with them. I don’t know who you used to be, but I can see that, whoever the Klaus of five years ago was, he’s gone. Just the fact that you care… for some strangers… it’s enough to prove that you’re a better person now”

“See ? I’ve done the right thing coming here for you. I went to your home but Eri told me that I would have found you here. I didn’t hesitate to come.”

“Why ?”

“Because I needed you, I need you. Because you’re the only one who never judge me. Because you aren’t scared of my, because you aren’t afraid of being who you really are with me… because I can be who I really am with you. Because… you’re making me feel things that I haven’t felt for a long time”

Stefan didn’t know what to say or do. He didn’t even have other tears to shred anymore. He couldn’t take his eyes off Klaus, even when the sincerity of his gaze seemed to burn him.  
But it was a different fire, it didn’t hurt him, instead it made him feel complete, safe… loved, maybe.  
So when Klaus’ lips touched his, Stefan didn’t retreat.   
Stefan surrounded Klaus’ neck with his arm and let Klaus touching his lips with his tongue.  
There were a lot of feelings involved in that simple kiss, there were joy, excitement, fear, hesitation, affection, maybe even love.  
Then Klaus’ tongue came into Stefan’s mouth and the kiss became more passionate.   
There were desire, need, lust.   
How long have they waited for that moment ?  
How long have they wanted it ?  
How long have they wanted nothing more than kiss each other as their lives depending on it ?  
Klaus was dominant, but gentle. He wanted literally devour Stefan’s mouth, but also explored it. He wanted remember every single detail and above all he wanted to mark that mouth, because after that, no one had to dare kiss Stefan. No one.  
Only Klaus could kiss that beautiful special guy and Stefan didn’t want to be kissed by anyone else.  
Kissing Klaus was a wonderful experience, the best in his life.   
It was the kiss he was dreaming since he was human. It was the kiss of his dream, with a wonderful man. A wonderful man who had chosen him.   
Stefan still felt guilty for what he had done, but now he didn’t want to think about it. Now all that matter was Klaus and nothing else.  
He had protected him. Now Klaus had another bloodline, he would be safe and that was what that matter to him.


	11. Skins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cade is furious because his worst fear's coming true and the possibility to loose Stefan forever never been so real. While the Devil tries to find a way not to loose his precious Hunter, Lexi's still looking for a way to save Stefan's soul from Hell and she will find herself asking the help of someone unexpected.   
> Stefan instead will help Klaus to erase his first sin.

CHAPTER 11 

 

Cade wasn’t in a good mood. It wasn’t a good thing because when Cade was furious, Hellfire became more violent, it burned the souls with more greedy, as if burning them and keeping them in that horrible place wasn’t enough anymore.  
The Hellfire flared up, untamable, unstoppable, merciless. Determinate to reduce everything in dust without hesitation.  
In that moment Cade wanted nothing else but burn down the entire world, because he was watching the most tedious scenario of his life.  
His Stefan was kissing another man… and he wasn’t just another man.   
Cade had no doubt Klaus Mikaelson was the soul to save. There weren’t a lot the Sinner Hunter who found the soul to save, but he remembered what usually happened.  
The Sinner couldn’t feel the sins of the soul, he had to wait that the soul reveled them by himself. The Sinner had to create a connection with the soul, a strong, deep mentally connection based on trust, feti, loyalty, devotion. All the good stuff in few words.  
It was a soul connection, but then it became physical too.  
The two people became so bounded with each other that they simply couldn’t stay separated from each other anymore.   
Klaus and Stefan for now didn’t have a mentally connection, but it would happen so.  
They kissed, which meant that their bond was already started.   
That meant he had to act fast, or he would lose his most precious soul forever.  
Stefan was a vampire with pure heart, only a fool would underestimate the value of a soul like that.   
Cade’s been craving Stefan’s soul for so long, and even of he’s never been close to have it, he was sure that would have passed hundred years before Stefan found his soul to save.  
But now the time was running away, and he had to do something.  
’Stefan, you will be mine… I promise’   
The Hell claimed his attention, the souls were screaming in pain, begging him to tame the fire, but Cade ignored them.   
He looked at Klaus and Stefan kissing each other for few other seconds, then he came back Hell, where the Fire was still devouring everything.

…

LAS VEGAS 22:30

‘Let’s doing something of fun’.  
That was what was thinking an handsome guy with a mischievous smirk who promised nothing else but troubles.   
The guy had brown hair and black eyes dark like a night sky. He was wearing an elegant suit, which was making him looking even more beautiful and elegant.  
He walked through the streets of Las Vegas confident, like someone who was ready to have all the world at his feet. Everyone both of women and men turned toward him with mixed feelings… envy… desire… lust… admiration…   
Henry Knight wore sunglasses, he always did, even at night. He could see perfectly with them, darkness wasn’t a problem for his eyes and also sunglasses let him observing people without being noticed.  
Henry was a peculiar creature, he was a Sinner Hunter, in fact the silver pendant he wore around his neck and that shone like star was created by Cade a long time ago.  
His surname was derived from his role, but Sinner didn’t sound appropriate, so Henry chose an alternative. Knight.  
Like Devil’s knight. It sound better but the meaning was the same.  
Henry worked for Cade, his soul belonged to him, and he had to kill people in his name.  
Henry took a breath and smirked.  
The sins around him were delicious and inviting, one worst than another, the Hunter inside him was screaming for killing someone and Henry didn’t want to tame the monster anymore.   
Killing was so much fun… seeing the desperation in his victims was a delicious, the fear in their eyes was delicious.

‘Well in that case… Fear is delicious’

Henry smiled with cruelty. His friend was right when she said that line.   
But they had different methods to kill.   
He wandered if his precious talker would have appreciated being killed by him.  
Henry smirked again, the stupid little fool maybe though he was dumb enough not to have noticed her presence behind him. But he did and the only reason why he hasn’t killed her yet.   
She looked particularly determinate to delay his hunt, probably she wanted to wast his time with useless babbles.  
Henry was already wandering his hands around her neck, using his magic to torture her, manipulating her mind, her thoughts..   
‘Oh my Devil, I can’t wait anymore. I want her soul.’  
So he used his telepathy to comunicate with her. She was a vampire, she wouldn’t be scared of it.  
’I’m going somewhere funny. Do you join me ?’  
Henry didn’t have to wait long for her answer.  
‘I can’t wait’.  
Henry smirked again. His night was just begun and it was revealing full of surprises. Just like he loved it.

…

_Stefan opened his eyes, and he found himself lying on a meadow. He tried to keep his eyes open but the sunlight made him closed them again. In the air there was an intense perfume of grass and flowers, and he could hear the birds chirping in the distance._   
_Wherever he was, it felt like heaven._   
_He sat on the lawn and for the first time he noticed the clothes he was wearing._   
_He was dressed up like a… Viking ? Could it be possible ?_   
_He touched his hear and he was relief that at least he had the same haircut._   
_He loved his hair too much as they were. He stood up and looked around, searching something familiar or a sign that could help him to understand where he was._   
_The place looked like a wood and it seemed that there was anyone around._   
_‘Maybe I should move. There has to be someone else. I don’t want to be here alone’, Stefan though starting to walk._   
_How did he arrive in that place ? Was it real ? Or just a dream ?_   
_Well he had to try to find it out._   
_Stefan knew that in dreams the time wasn’t the same of the reality, so he couldn’t say precisely how long he was walking in that wood, but suddenly he heard two voices._   
_One was furious, full of hatred and disgust._

_“You are a COWARD !! Because of you I lost everyone I loved ! Look at you… Boy… You’re a pathetic !!”_

_“Father ?”_

_Stefan’s heart jumped. He recognized quickly who the voice belonged to. Klaus._   
_Stefan’s never thought to hear Klaus in that way, as he was talking with the Devil himself, as he was talking with his personal nightmare._   
_Who was ?_   
_He ran toward the voice but he stopped himself behind a tree, so he could observe the entire scene._   
_There was Klaus, dressed up like a Viking, with long hair, his was lying on the grass._   
_His body was shaking, his had tears in his eyes, he was terrified and he looked so… human…_   
_Stefan could hear the heartbeat, how could it be possible ?_   
_The other man was blond, tall, strong and he was threatening Klaus with a sword._

_“So… young warrior… why don’t you teach me that trick of yours ?” asked Mikael wounding Klaus’ arm with his word._

_Klaus didn’t shout, but the wound hurt Stefan could see it._   
_Klaus was suffering but he didn’t want to show his pain in front of that man. He wanted to maintain his dignity, even in defeat, even a step away from death._   
_Stefan admired him for that, for keeping his composure, his need to look strong even when the fear was eating him alive._   
_The old man tried to kill him with his sword, but Klaus avoided the attack._   
_Suddenly it wasn’t anymore the man who was taking the sword in his hand, but Klaus._

_“There were moments where all you had to do was be my father ! And even then you despised me, didn’t you ?” now Klaus was crying again “I want to know why”_

_That scene made Stefan’s heart broken. He finally understood what was happening. He was seeing, or better dreaming, the only things of Klaus he couldn’t have found out yet. One of his sins._   
_He was going to see how Klaus got his revenge against his father, Stefan was sure of it because he was the same man in Elijah and Marcel’ sins._   
_For what he could see, Klaus’ father used to be violent and abusive toward him, never loosing a single occasion to humiliate him in front of his family, to beat him senseless, to remember to him that he was an Abomination._

_“You’re an Abomination… that’s it”_

_Probably things didn’t happen in that way, but they confirmed Stefan’ fears._   
_Klaus used the sword to kill Mikael. Stefan was going to do something but then the scenario changed again._   
_He was looking Klaus who was sitting on the grass._   
_The blond knelt his knees at his chest and he was crying._   
_Stefan got out of his hiding place and came closer to Klaus._   
_The blond noticed the other’s presence for the first time, so he raised his gaze and looked at Stefan with wide eyes._

_’Stefan ? What… Did you.. How could you be here ?”_

_Okay that was strange. It was Stefan’s dream, he should have asked to Klaus why he was there. If that was actually a dream and not a twisted way to see Klaus’ sins for the first time._   
_While Stefan was trying to put some order in his head, Klaus stood up, wiped his tears and came closer to Stefan._   
_He wasn’t an expert of dreams, but usually when he dreamed something his feelings weren’t so realistic and so… he couldn’t even find the right definition._   
_He was happy to see Stefan there, really happy._   
_When he woke up, he quickly recognized the wood where he used to live when he was human. He was looking for someone, but his father found him first._   
_Mikael dared him to play with him at hide and seek, so he had a sword in his hand, Klaus was human, disarmed and he couldn’t defend himself. So he ran, while his father shouted at him “Coward”._   
_He wasn’t sure if he was dreaming or if it was real, but Mikael always scared him._   
_He was the King of Klaus’ nightmare._   
_But at some point he couldn’t escape anymore, Mikael attacked him and he was so stronger than Klaus that he fell on the ground. It was a cruel Deja vu for him, or various deja vu actually. The dialogues with Mikael happened in different episodes of their lives. And Mikael called him Abomination, but it wasn’t the reason why his father hated him. The main reason was unknown even to Mikael himself._   
_And Klaus wandered if Stefan was what happened, if he had seen him killing Michael and if he considered him a monster._   
_He looked at toddler and from what he could see Stefan was confused as well._

_“I though I was dreaming. How could you be inside my dream ?” asked Stefan looking around, as he was looking for something._

_“Actually, this is my dream. Didn’t you see me and my… father before ? How did you manage to get inside my head ?” asked Klaus now almost angry._

_Stefan rolled his eyes. As he would have ever wanted to be in his head, it was a creepy thing. He knew vampires could enter inside other’s minds, creating dreams, illusions and stuff like that. But if Klaus was implying that Stefan was dumb enough to enter inside his dream, then he was completely wrong. Especially because he couldn’t. His powers as Sinner Hunter didn’t work on Klaus but of course he couldn’t say it._

_“How could I be sure that it is not you to be inside my head ?” asked Stefan retorting the question against Klaus._

_“Why should I entered inside your head and show to you so in such a plain way a part of my life that I’d never wanted you to know like this ?” asked Klaus almost shouting._

_“Listen I don’t know. I’m sorry If I saw something that I shouldn’t have, but I did. And I don’t have any intention of reproving you, blaming you or judging you.” said Stefan on defensive._

_“Well you’re not in the right position of judging after all. I’m… I didn’t mean to overreact but my father is a topic that I’m not glad to talk about. He was… abusive toward me. He spent his whole Immortal life hunting me down to kill me. I became paranoid when he disappeared the first time and…”_

_Klaus started to cry again. It was obvious that Mikael still had a deep psychological hold over Klaus, it was proved by the fact that Klaus became aggressive and angry after knowing the Stefan had seen everything._   
_His body was still shivering, now for the anger. A proud person like Klaus hated being seen like that by other people._   
_Klaus wanted everyone to fear him, to think he was strong, invincible, that nothing could brake him, or tear him down. He hated being so weak._   
_Stefan slowly raised an hand and caressed his cheek. For his surprise, Klaus didn’t remove his hand off his face._   
_So he continued to touch that angelic face, then he raised the other hand and touched the other cheek._   
_Klaus closed his eyes. Secretly he loved when Stefan touched him in that way. Now that he was human he felt he was blushing, but he didn’t care._

_“You’re blushing…” said Stefan “You’re so cute” then he touched Klaus’ hair “And I love your hair so long. They make you look even more angelic, you know ?”_

_“I used to love them too. I loved when my sister Bekah used to play with them, she entertained to interweave them and I loved when she did. I love how you’re touching them now” said Klaus blushing even more._

_Stefan smiled, continuing to touching and caressing those soft golden threads. It was amazing how Klaus looked beautiful with both short and long hair. Stefan was pretty convinced that if his hair were so long he would have looked like an hipster. Better not._   
_Klaus instead was so perfect, in every details…_

_“God, you’re so beautiful”_

_Klaus smiled then he gently grabbed Stefan’s hands and kissed them then he asked “May I kiss you ?”_

_“Since when you ask for what you want ?” asked Stefan licking his lower lips._

_“Since when all I want is you… and that lovely mouth of yours”_

_Then Klaus made his move. He grabbed Stefan’s face and kissed him. He touched the other’s face and hair, slowly._   
_He licked Stefan’s lips with his tongue, biting and sucking them lightly. He usually didn’t hesitate to take what he wanted, but Stefan was different._   
_Klaus didn’t want to be rough with him, he didn’t want Stefan to think that he was just one of his lovers, he wanted the toddler to understand that that moment was important to him._   
_When Stefan pushed Klaus’ face closer to him, the hybrid knew he could deepen the kiss, and the taste of Stefan’s mouth was inebriating. Their tongues perfectly fitted with each other, almost like they were made for a moment like that._   
_They didn’t know why, but they found themselves fallen on the ground, still kissing each other._   
_Having Klaus’s young in his mouth was a wonderful thing for Stefan._   
_Of course the hybrid was a better kisser than Stefan, surely he had more experience._   
_Stefan kissed only three people in his life, Valerie, Katherine and another Sinner Hunter like him, Henry Prince who he met a long time ago._   
_Klaus was so charming, so appealing, and obviously he was a womanizer. Surely he had a lot of lovers, one night stand, but now Stefan didn’t want to think about them._   
_Stefan didn’t want to ruin that moment thinking about former lovers. Now Klaus wanted him and Stefan was happy for this._   
_He was happy for kissing him, touching his hair, his skin, for feeling his breath on his face, looking him in his stunning blue eyes._   
_He still didn’t understand what was going on, if that place was real or just a dream, but he was happy._   
_The wolf inside Klaus was screaming at him ‘take him ! Make him yours’, but that wouldn’t have been the right moment._   
_Klaus stopped to kiss the other for a moment, so he could look at Stefan, beautiful as ever._   
_His lips red and slightly swollen, with messy hair, red cheeks and the breathtaking green forest eyes which were looking at him with complete adoration. Klaus would stay there to look him forever._

_“I’m sorry that you have seen me killing my father in this way. I wish I would tell you myself” said Klaus almost ashamed._

_The truth was that Human Klaus felt naked, dressed up only by his unforgivable sin, and he feared Stefan’s judgment._

  
_“It’s okay. I didn’t know him, but from what I could see, he wasn’t a good father for you. I heard him telling you horrible things. Lies. God, he was also threatening you with a sword. Did all that things happen ?” asked Stefan sitting on the grass._

_“Unfortunately yes. He’s never loved me, and if he did, he’d never done it in a proper way. He… beaten me, humiliated me, called me coward and stuff like that.”_

_“Did he act in this way with your other siblings ?” asked Stefan quietly._

_“Not. I mean, he wasn’t soft with them, but I’ve been the one he abused the most. He hated me and not because I was an abomination. The answer you heard it wasn’t the one he gave to me before I killed him the second time”_

_“Then why did he hate you ?”_

_“He didn’t know it himself. He said that he hated me since I was born, even before to know that I was the result of an affair of my mother and werewolf. I guess that was the reason why he spent over one thousand year to hunt me down”_

_“It wasn’t your fault if your mother was unfaithful to him. What a childish behave. My father was abusive with my brother after the mother of our mother. I’ve spent my whole human life trying to excuse him, I used to tell myself ‘he suffers, he’s hard with us because he want us to be strong, but he loves us’, but it wasn’t true” said Stefan with embitters._

_“And with you ? Talk me about him”_

_Klaus was really curious to know something more about Stefan and his human life._   
_The toddler told him that he had a brother, but it seemed that family wasn’t an happy topic for him._   
_Mikaelson’ family didn’t have an easy past, but they were together now and ready to start a new life together. Apparently Stefan didn’t share the same luck._   
_And of course he wanted to distract Stefan from his father._

_“I was the Golden boy. The good boy, I simply obeyed him and I accepted him to organize my life, every second of my life. I accepted everything passively. Not because I didn’t have the strength to take decisions on my own but because… I’ve felt responsible”_

_“For what ?” asked Klaus a bit confused._

_“When my mother died, I was really young and… I don’t but… it was almost like my father blamed me for that. Maybe because he needed someone to blame for it. He blamed Damon when he found out that out mother planned to escape from him with us. So he blamed me for her death”_

_“How did she die ?”._

_“Consumption” answered Stefan shrugging._

_Actually Stefan didn’t want to talk about his mother. He used to have a good memories about her, their time together, but now he hated her, deeply for what she has done to Damon._   
_If Giuseppe Salvatore physically abused Damon, Lilian had emotionally abused him._   
_Stefan saw him in her sins, when she met her a long time ago and saw her turned into a vampire._   
_That meeting broke Stefan’s heart, because he saw all that was rotten in her._   
_He hated her, but he didn’t kill her. Maybe because the little child inside him wished to saved her. Maybe the next time._

_“I’m sorry” said Klaus._

_“Don’t be. I stopped to mourn her a long time ago, with my father, of course. But I’m glad to have shared these things with you”_

_“Yes, it seems that we’re finally creating a deep connection. I’m glad about it and I’m happy that you don’t despise me for having killed my father, twice”._

_“Well I killed him… once. He was my first victim as vampire, and since we promised to be honest with each other, I can say that I would resurrect him only to kill him again” said Stefan shrugging._

_“A true Rippah… Well, you Rippah self is sexy as well, I can’t say I mind him.” said Klaus._

_“I’m glad you accept this part of me. I tried to tame the Ripper inside me, but… sometime… I don’t know… I just need to be him.”_

_“You can be whoever you want to be with me and I will never judge you. I’m the furthest thing from an innocent. I’ve done a lot of bad things in my life and I understand the need to be someone else, stronger, darker, confident. Everything I wasn’t when I was human.”_

_Stefan smiled then he kissed Klaus again._   
_He didn’t want to talk about their fathers anymore or about the person they used to be._   
_For Stefan, they were perfect the way they were, shame that their fathers didn’t think the same._   
_Stefan was happy to be in Klaus’ arms, there he felt protected and safe._   
_He still didn’t understand the entire situation, but he didn’t care anymore._   
_But suddenly the entire place started to trembling, the wood to disappear with their shape._

_“If it’s a dream… I assume we’re waking up.” said Klaus almost sad._

_“If it’s real… we’ll remember and we can talk about it.” said Stefan caressing the other’s hair._

_Klaus tried to answer but they disappeared as the world around them._

…

‘How did he managed to convince me ?”   
Lexi has been looking for Henry Prince for ten years, before she found out that the black dickhead changed his last name.   
The truth was that she gave up on hope to find a way to save Stefan from Cade, so she started to look for a way to kill the Devil once and for all. But she needed help.   
Henry Knight was the only other Sinner Hunter she knew and even if she didn’t like him, at all, well, Lexi was mature enough to admit she was desperate.   
Henry was a bad guy, mischievous and manipulative and he was a Sinner Hunter too, a witch and a psychic. He couldn’t only feel the other sins, but also their secrets and sometimes even their future.   
She didn’t remember all Henry’s powers, it would be impossible since she tried to avoid him.   
The gentle assassin took her in a disco where, behind a secret door, there was a place where the élite of the city reunited to assist at clandestine fighting against supernatural creatures. Vampires, werewolves, witches even.

“… Here, the scum of society make bets on who win the match. There, my dear, we’re going to… fight.” said Henry finishing to drink his champagne.

“Why should I fight against to you ?” asked Lexi.

“To make things more interesting. If you win… I’m not going to kill you and I will help you with whatever urgent problem pushed you to look for me, although it is clear you despised me”

“Why are you wasting a night that you could spend to hunt down poor people ? This is what is convincing me less about this… thing” said Lexi moving her arms to emphasize her words.

“I don’t waste anything. These people, around us, with their expensive clothes, jewels and cars… are doing something unforgivable. They knew that in this place supernatural creatures have to fight for their right to live and only for their entertainment. Girls, boys, women… It doesn’t matter for them.”

“So, all these people are going to die tonight. It’s dangerous” commented Lexi looking at the people around her.

“Why ? Because they are all enriched who regularly appear in newspapers, magazines or TV ? Even better. It would be a great scandal. I can see the title already ‘The rich carnage of Las Vegas’, rich only because of the status of their victims. What do you think ?” asked Henry with a mischievous smile.

“That you are a despicable being” commented Lexi with disgust.

Henry smiled even more, if it was possible. He wasn’t offended by her comment, he was used to it and she wasn’t wrong.   
He was a man of dubious morality, if he could call himself man and if he still had some morality.   
Henry didn’t care actually. The only thing he could feel was the emptiness.  
That happened when you made a deal with the Devil, you gave him your soul and apparently he gave you something back, but it was only an illusion.   
The Devil turned you in his prettiest snake, he made you changed your skin, over and over again, and every single time you lost the skin you lost something of yourself too.   
In the end… you changed your skin so much time that you lost yourself too and you didn’t even care.  
That was what left of Henry, his skin. His new beautiful skin, a beautiful snake which was about to wrap between his spires all the souls he wanted.

Henry came closer to Lexi and said “Have you ever kissed the Devil, my dear ?”

“No, and I’ll never do. When do we start ?” asked Lexi turned her gaze.

“You really don’t like me…” commented Henry with a fake grudge “All right, take off that high heels and we start. I’m going to kick your ass bombshell”.

“I won’t be sure of it, dumbass.”

Henry smirked. The snake inside him was craving for a dance of blood and violence, it was screaming at him to wrap the neck of that lovely creature, fill it with greedy kisses, mark that pure soul with his darkness.  
Her light was delicious… But Henry knew the rules too well. He couldn’t have her.   
Devils couldn’t have anything from you if you didn’t give them anything.   
And Henry gave everything to Cade already. He was empty, completely.  
Lexi would never give him anything to fill the empty inside his heart, she was too smart to let the darkness tempting her.   
‘It will be a shame ruining that pretty face’ he though.

…

_Bites… moans… hands all over the body… a greedy mouth which marked every limb, just to remember her who she belonged with._   
_That fingers made of darkness and not of skin were craving her soul, her light, everything._   
_It made impossible her to breath._

Sybil was swimming in the sea, under a wonderful night sky. She was spending an enjoyable holiday in Italy, and there the sea was spectacular.   
Since when she was free of Cade, she has spent every single second to enjoy her newfound freedom.   
She deserved it after all, after having spent over three thousand years being Cade’s slave.  
Cade took everything he could away from her, her innocence, her life, her soul…   
No, it wasn’t completely right.  
Cade made her believe that she could be the Queen of Hell at his side, and she’s been for a lot of time.  
She didn’t understand that Cade’s interest toward her would have had an expiration date.   
But then Cade was bored of her, he wanted a new toy, someone who could give him the light, the innocence and the shyness of the first kisses again, things that she has already given to him. Things that she could never have back.   
Then again, Cade got tired of his new toy and so Sybil had to procure him a new one again.  
She had to admit, Stefan was the best deal of her whole life.  
She was glad to have get her freedom back at Stefan’s expense. That tedious brat almost ruined all her plans, always putting his perfect nose between her and Damon, but if she had to be sincere, she had to admit that Stefan was the better offer since the begin.  
Stefan’s always been the better man, everyone thought it. Damon told her the same thing while he was under her spell.   
But now thinking about the past was enough. She had a new life and she was happy for it. She went out from water, walking toward her bag on the beach when someone made her jumped.

“Good night, my dear”

Her body started to shiver and not for the cold. She didn’t even have the courage to turn around and face her former owner.

“It’s rude not look in the face of who is talking to you” said Cade surrounding her shoulders “Oh, you’re trembling. You’re cold. Well, don’t worry my dear, I’m with you now, I’m going to take care of you”

“Leave me be” whispered Sybil with tears in her eyes.

“Now, don’t do like that. The night is young and we have a lot of things to talk about”

“You’ve already taken everything you could away from me. Emptiness is all I left…”

“You’re a little snake, Sybil. A snake wrapped around my fingers. A beautiful snake whose spirits deserve nothing but some other soul to wrap”

“I’m not a Sinner Huntress anymore. I don’t obey you” said Sybil grabbing the other’s arm and pushing the man away from her.

“I wouldn’t be so sure, if I were you.”

“What do you mean ?”

“That our skins are made of sins. We can change our skin only if someone create a new one for us… unfortunately you’re going to loose yours forever if you don’t help me”

Sybil frowned, she wasn’t understanding Cade’s words.   
The Devil looked angry, furious, even.   
Sybil could almost hear the screams of the souls trapped in Hell.  
What was happening ? What was making Cade so furious ?  
What was so powerful that Cade needed her help ?   
All the situation was nonsense.  
Unfortunately, something told her that she was going to find out everything very soon.

…

Stefan woke up, and he felt happy for the first time after a long period of darkness and pain. For the first time he woke up and he was glad to begin the day, to get up, dress up, talk to Eri and spend time with her…   
For the first time he could feel that he lived because he wanted, that he could do things because he wanted and not because he had to.  
When he told Klaus to have killed his father, it was as if he had taken a weight from his heart, an uncomfortable truth that, like a snake, wrapped his heart until it hurt every time.  
But in that dream, if it was a dream, they shared a darken secret and created a connection.  
What did it mean ?   
Was he right ?   
Was Klaus his soul to save ?  
Stefan truly hoped so. Now he felt less… dirty, less guilty. As if one of his sins was finally forgiven by God.

_“Good morning… my little snake. Hell require your attention”_

Stefan smiled. Cade wasn’t going to ruin his happiness.   
He wasn’t going to be a snake any longer.   
God was beginning to forgive him, Stefan could be saved and he was happy for it.   
Hell was burning down, and for once his flames weren’t hurting him.

 


	12. The three snakes of Devil

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sybil, Henry and Stefan are the three snakes of Devil. Cade has a lot of Hunters, but they are particularly important to him. Sybil was his wife, Henry is knight and Stefan... is the diamond of his Hell.   
> Cade will do whatever it takes not to lose even one of them.   
> Unfortunately... Stefan has a special friend who is willing to do everything to save him from Hell, even making a deal with another snake.

CHAPTER 12

  
_Seline knew what was coming for her, and yet she couldn’t regret her actions._   
_She spent her whole life isolated in a island, alone, like a leper. She wanted revenge, she wanted that the village where she used to live burn in Hell, or being devastated by the pestilence. She wanted her entire village to suffer, as she did._   
_That was the main reason why she used her power against the sailors, attiring them and letting them die._   
_She was a cannibal too, but what could she do ? She would have starved otherwise._   
_The first time she ate human flesh she was disgusted, not by herself or her action, but by the consistence, but it was the only food she could eat._   
_After few time she got used to it, so she surrendered herself to her new life._   
_But when Sybil arrived in her life, she could say she was happy. Yes, she was happy to have found a family, someone to love, someone to care about._   
_But Seline was always Seline. She was a bad girl, cruel. She made Sybil eat human flesh, of course her little sissy didn’t have any idea of what she was eating._   
_Seline didn’t want to hurt her, but Sybil was a innocent girl, sweet, naive, who looked at her with affection and adoration._   
_Seline had Sybil wrapped around her little finger and everything seemed to be fine, but then Sybil found out the truth, and of course she couldn’t accept to be a cannibal._   
_Sybil killed herself because she couldn’t put it up with her sense of guilty and that action broke her heart. The fact that Sybil preferred to die instead that remained there and have justice with her._   
_Those men deserved to die, they abandoned them on that island, because they were different, because they were psychic, because they considered them dangerous because of their power._   
_For Seline they deserved to die, but of course Sybil didn’t agree with her._   
_She preferred to die… That wasn’t acceptable for Seline, so she invoked a Devil, Arcadius._

_“I want revenge… against the people who have abandoned me here… I want revenge against her… She wanted abandoned me, it’s not fair. I gave her everything. I gave her…”_

_“A revenge that she didn’t want. But I understand somehow. Girls like your little sissy don’t understand to want something before to have actually got it. Your sister is a good girl, innocent, actually. She shouldn’t be the one I should take”_

_“A Devil like you, who lives in a prison made of darkness, desires light more than anything else. You like your life, but the light of innocence, the purity of a soul without sins… is irresistible for creatures like you” said Seline with a mischievous smirk._

_“Do you want to give me her innocence ?”_

_Now Cade was truly interested. The arrogant human silly girl was right._   
_There was only one thing that Devils desired more than powers and destruction… the light of the purity of a soul._   
_There was nothing more satisfying that marked a pure soul with hatred, lust, sin, darkness. Seeing the light abandoned the heart and fill the emptiness of a never ending existence. Cade looked at Sybil, he thought she was pretty and her soul was pure, although she spent her whole life eating poor people._   
_But she didn’t know it, she didn’t mean to hurt anyone, she didn’t want to become a monster. She wasn’t a sinner, not yet._   
_But she was perfect to become the new Queen of his Hell._   
_Every Devil like Cade knew that the deepest darkness had his origins from the purest hearts._   
_Sybil would be the perfect person to be at his side, as Queen of darkness._

_“So… Does this devil want a Bride ? Or should I invoke someone else ?” asked Seline, knowing to have got her deal._

_“No, I want a Bride. Your sister will be a perfect bride for me” said Cade touching Sybil’s cheek._

…

And Sybil was his bride. She has been his bride for almost two thousand years.  
She ruled the Hell at Cade’s side, she heard the screams, the tears, the pain, the prays of the souls who burned under her eyes but she didn’t care, she covered them with her moans, with her whispers, with the her prays toward Cade to take her.   
And when she was in Cade’s arms she felt important and for her was something new. Her parents threw her away as a piece of rubbish, not even look for her once in that damn island, for Seline, she was just something to control and manipulate, a toy, a puppy to keep her company. Cade was the first who treated her like a Queen, who treated her like she deserved.  
She didn’t realize that the Devil took everything away from her, giving her nothing in return, leaving her an insufferable emptiness in return.  
Sybil still remember what Cade asked her before demoted her.

“Who you are now ?”

Sybil didn’t have an answer, she didn’t need it. Cade answered for her.

“You’re a beautiful snake that has just changed her skin for the last time”

When Sybil understood what he meant, she screamed and yelled at him, cursing the day he met him, but Cade only smiled at her, like if she was a little child who couldn’t understand something so simple.   
Who she saw ? The innocent little girl before the island ? She lost that skin when she ate human flesh for the first time.   
Seline’s little sister ? She lost that skin when Seline sold her to Cade.  
Queen of Hell ? Cade didn’t want her anymore, so it was over. The snake lost all its skins.   
She was only an empty envelope of anger and regret, and she couldn’t blame anyone but herself.   
Now she was sitting at the table, in a bar, playing with the straw of her drink.   
Cade was sitting in front of her, a cocktail in front of him that he would never drink.  
’Such a waist’ she thought.

“A waste, that’s what I thought when you told me not to want to be a Sinner Huntress anymore” said Cade looking the people around him avoiding her gaze.

“You know why I went away. I spent my whole existence obeying you, adoring you, killing in your name and what did I get in return ? To lost myself forever” said Sybil finishing her drink and then making the waiter a sign to get closer.

She ordered another cocktail for herself, something stronger, she truly needed.

“Your hangover won’t make me disappear, my dear. But you’ve always been the most fragile, so I guess is predictable.”

“Are you here only to insult me ?” asked Sybil shaking her eyes.

The temptation of braking her glass on that dickhead was strong, and Sybil was weak to temptations. But it would be such a poor waste, Cade wound’t have got hurt anyway and she should have payed the bar for the broken glass.  
Cade looked at her for the first time since they were in that bar. He looked apparently calm, but she knew him too well.  
She could see the Hell burn inside his eyes, she could feel his fury burning his heart like an untamed fire, and she smiled.  
There was only one possible reason why Cade was so furious.   
No owner was happy when he risked to loose his toys.

“My dear, I would never dare. How could you think it ? I’m here because I want to warn you that you’re on the edge.”

“What do you mean ?”

“That you’re going to loose your freedom very soon.” answered Cade with an hard tone.

“No. That’s impossible. The main point of my deal was to regain my freedom in change of Stefan’s soul” said Sybil finishing her drink.

“Yes, Stefan’s soul was the prize for your freedom. Unfortunately I found an inconvenient to get the vampire’s soul. His soul to save”

Sybil’s heart jumped, “You’re lying” she accused him.

“I’m a Devil, I’m a liar. Unfortunately this is not the case. Stefan found his soul to save, which means that I’m going to loose him really soon.”

Sybil’s hand started to shiver, so she put he glass on the table and avoided to look at Cade.  
She was a smart woman, she understood what Cade was going to say.   
Only because she didn’t find someone to save, didn’t mean that someone else couldn’t be luckier.   
Apparently Stefan had that luck and since she got her freedom at Stefan’s expense, if he got his freedom back, she would have lost hers forever.

“I don’t want this to happen. His soul… I’ve waited too much long for him and now I’m going to loose him forever. I can’t accept it. He belongs to me, all of you belong to me” said Cade grabbing Sybil’s right wrist and tightening it.

“Not exactly. I don’t belong to you anymore. My time is running out but for now, I still have my freedom and if I have to fight to keep it I will and I won’t fail” said Sybil getting free of Cade.

“I hope for you. I suggest you to come back to America and doing something to convince Stefan to give his soul to me” said Cade getting up a putting some money on the table.

“I will do whatever it takes to save what remains of me from you”

Cade smirked. If he wasn’t so furious he’d laughed in front of Sybil’s naivety.   
She was convinced that preventing Stefan from saving his soul to save would have been easy… she was wrong, but Cade wasn’t worry about it either.  
The truth was that he wanted his Bride back, the truth was that he wanted his first snake back.  
He wanted the full package, Sybil, Henry and Stefan and whoever would arrive after them.   
They were his and his only and Cade would never let them go.

…

Henry Knight was admiring Las Vegas from the balcony in his hotel room. Three hours remained before the dawn rose and he didn’t want to loose it.  
He loved seeing the sun rising, since he was a child. He remembered that him and Klaus looking the sun rising together, sometime Kol joined them. He remembered that Klaus gave him a knight of wood, during one of that morning. His older brother said that that knight would have protected him.   
What irony, Henry lost it the day before his death and never found it again.   
But what made him laugh most was the fact that he lost everything not because his death, but because he survived.

…

_Henry and Lexi was just entered in a cage, a sort of ring. They changed their clothes._   
_Apparently whoever organized that sort of events had a lot of money to provide gymnastic suits for all the participants and of various sizes._   
_Their entrance was followed by applauses and cheers. Henry found them tedious and he was already anticipating the death of all those people._

_“Are you going to hit me hard ?” asked Henry waling around the “ring”._

_“I can’t avoid it. I’m a vampire. Are you going to use your powers on me ?” asked Lexi not worry at all._

_“Maybe… I’ve a lot of powers. But I do want you to hit me hard.” said Henry licking his lips._

_“What if you defend yourself ?”_

_Lexi was a strong vampire and she developed a lot of powers through the years but Henry was a Sinner Hunter, a witch and a psychic._   
_She didn’t know all his powers, but as far as she could remember he had the power of Divination, clairvoyance, mediumship, telekinesis, levitation and astral projection and telepathy._   
_Henry reveiled his powers to Stefan the first time they met and Lexi couldn’t avoid to wander if Stefan was going to have the same powers in the future._

_“Nail me” answered Henry with a laugh._

_That answer wasn’t comforting. Well, now she was there and she wouldn’t surrender. Stefan needed her help and if she had to fight against the Prince of Devil then she would do it._   
_She attacked first. She tried to hit him in the stomach, but of course Henry knew her move he pushed her away with telekinesis._

_“Over a millennium spent as Cade’s slave and I’ve never found a way to kill him. How can you be so sure to be luckier ?”._

_“Because I’m actually looking for it. I don’t think you’ve ever done it. You used to be happy at Cade’s side”_

_Lexi attacked Henry again and this time she punched him in the face._   
_The truth was the Henry didn’t define himself this time, he had simply cashed the shot, because she was right. He let her punch him it as her words did the same._

_“I admit that being the Prince of Devil was fun. It made me lost my first skin as simple village human boy.”_

_“Skin ?” asked Lexi without understanding._

_“Cade calls us his snakes. Me, Stefan… He’s right after all. He takes something from us, and then we change our skin and become something we could’ve never imaged”._

_Henry used his powers to make Lexi suffer._   
_The girl got on her knees, taking her head with both hands, trying not to scream for the pain. Henry was glad to make her suffer, he found her more pleasurable in that way for his contorted mind. The pain wasn’t too much strong, she could have got up and hit him again and Henry would have considered it sexy as well._   
_Lexi got up and kicked Henry in his stomach._   
_He let her hit him again. The pain was pleasurable, it made him feel something, it filled the emptiness inside him even if it was for few seconds._   
_God, he wanted more._

_“You know… when Cade took my soul he asked me who I was. I told him, I’m my parents’ son, my brothers’ sibling, a simple village boy. But then I understood that I wasn’t Henrik anymore. He died and another person came back alive”_

_With his power he created a ring of fire. The people around them began to cry out louder, they urged him to burn Lexi alive, but Henry would never dare. Instead he let the girl grabbing his wrist and bite him._   
_Lexi wasn’t scared of the flames, but she was a smart girl, she understood what exactly Henry wanted from her._   
_He wanted her to make him feel something. But she wasn’t there for that, she was there for Stefan._

_“Sorry to look rude, but I’m not here for you, Henry. I’m here because I want to defeat the Devil, because I’ll never let Cade have Stefan’s soul.”_

_“Don’t you get it, do you ? Cade can’t have something from you if you aren’t the first to give it. Yes, he has his way to get what he wants, but You’re the first to surrender to him.”_

_“Stefan would never surrender to Cade. He’s determinate to be saved from Hell and I believe in him.”_

_“Really ? Everyone thinks to be strong enough to resist the temptation and the allure of darkness but in the end everyone surrenders too. The only escape he has is finding his soul to save. It’s not impossible, it’s rare, but I knew a former hunter who found his soul to save.”_

_“Do you know where I can find him ?” asked Lexi._

_“No, but we Hunter can communicate with each other, in our sleep. We encounter in a sort of chambers made of the same substance of dreams. Not so real to be able touch each other but real enough to communicate with each other. Sometimes is strong enough that even the former Hunters can communicate with us.”_

_“So can you talk to him ?” asked Lexi attacking Henry again._

_Henry pushed her away, but not let the fires burned her skin. He used all the fire that formed the ring to create balls and then he threw them against Lexi. She avoided them, she was super fast, and Henry was the first not to want to hit her anyway._

_“I can talk to Stefan too. I’m pretty curious to know if he’s starting to surrender. Cade is an amazing lover” commented Henry looking at the girl’s body._

_Lexi made and indignant expression. She only met Cade once in her life, when she jumped in one of his conversation with Stefan and she has been considering him the most awful person of the world since then. She couldn’t imagine that someone could found that dickhead pleasurable enough to have sex with him._   
_If Cade had any intention of laying even a single finger on Stefan he should have passed through her._

_“Will you help me or not ?” asked Lexi again._

_“I will help you to find someone who can actually help you. You know what ? I’m cruel enough to want destroy Cade. He took everything I gave him and he gave me nothing in return. I’ve been demoted since he had stupid infatuation for Stefan “_

_“Demoted ? Does Hell have ranks ?”._

_“Of course, my dear. I used to be his prince, you know ? Now I’m nothing more than one of his knights, this is why I changed my last name. No one can toss me away like that. So, I’m going to find someone who can help you.”_

_Lexi attacked him again. She grabbed him by his wrist, then she struck him with an elbow._

_“If you’re trying to deceive me…”_

_“No tricks. I know a lot of people and a big part of them own me their pathetic lives. I help you, but you have to promise me that you’re going to kill Cade once and for all”._

_“I promise” said Lexi without hesitation._

_Henry smiled, then he grabbed her wrist and broke it. Lexi screamed, but then Henry pushed her behind him and used her powers again, this time against the people._

_“Phasmatos motus incendiarios”_

_Lexi and Henry had just the time to get out of that place, before it burned down with all the people inside._

…

Henry was glad, after all. Not only because his artwork would be showed in TV after few minutes, an artwork worthy of Michelangelo, and Nik though to be the artist of family, but also because he was going to have his revenge against Cade.  
Being a Sinner Hunter was fun, but not so much when you have someone’s breath on the neck. Henry didn’t hold a grudge against Cade, he didn’t want to be his prince in the first place so he glad when Cade lost his interest toward him. But in the end, one final true remained.

Who are you ?

The snake of Devil, and Henry wanted to change that skin as well. Stupid Sybil who tried to escape. The best strategy to defeat an enemy is to be close to him.   
Once Cade loved him and at the person you loved you tell everything.   
Henry wasn’t a fool like Sybil, he’s never had any illusions that Cade’s love for him would be last forever, so he took the best he could from his relationship with the Devil. All his secrets.  
Henry raised his eyes, the sun was rising, a new day beginning and he was ready to start his fight for freedom.

“Good morning, my little snake.”

Henry smirk. Speaking of Devil…

…

_Stefan hated that kind of reunions, but he also knew better than not to answer to Cade. The Devil had the dangerous tendency of becoming hysterical when his insubordinates didn’t respond at his calls._   
_Stefan was really tempted to provoke Cade and ignored him but he quickly changed his mind._   
_Less time he spent dealing with that piece of shite and happier he was._   
_As he predicted, he found himself inside of a dark room for the sake of the originality, with the wooden floor and fireplaces for each walls. At the center there was a big rectangular table, with fancy chairs worthy of the slaves of Devil. For every place there was an empty chalice. Stefan was sitting at one of the latest place. He wasn’t the youngest of the Hunters but not even one of the oldest and there was hierarchy that had to be respected. In front of him there was the shape of a young boy, but Stefan couldn’t see his face._   
_During that reunion no one of them could see the face of the others Hunters, only Cade could._   
_He said that it was to preserve and protect the other’s identity. Usually Hunters couldn’t interact with each other, because two Sinners Hunters couldn’t stay in the same city together, they had to stay separated._   
_If two Sinners Hunters stayed together in the same town over twenty four hours they would have to fight against each other, the winner remained in the city, the looser had to find another hunting territory._   
_Stefan met Henry, in Chicago, but they spent only four hours together in a bar, then Henry left and Stefan too, after few days._   
_Chicago was too much focus on the search of a mysterious kill and Stefan has already destroyed Monterey so he had to live if he wanted to be safe._   
_About the others, he met the girl at his left. Her name was Agatha, she was a witch, two hundred years old. Her coven sacrificed her to the Devil to get more powers. She got her revenge by killing all of them and stealing their powers._   
_She had been an interesting challenge for him, but in the end he won and she had to leave the town._   
_At his right there was an empty place, that indicated that there weren’t other Hunters after him. He was the last for the moment. He knew that once was one of Sybil’s duty procuring new Sinners Hunters to Cade._   
_She used to be the wife of the Devil, somehow she was it until the end, and a wife’s main duty was to procure children to her husband._   
_Everyone in that room was chosen by Sybil, she seemed to have a special talent in finding people who reveled themselves to be excellent murders. In fact, it was undeniable that they were that in that “room” there were the most dangerous murderous of the planet._   
_Sitting at headboard there was the Devil himself, who seemed to be in a bad moon._

_“As you all can understand I’m in a bad moon, so I’m going to avoid pleasantries. As you know I’ve lost four of you during the last fifty years and I lost my wife over a century ago. There are too much empty places there so I need to fill them. Do you understand ?” asked Cade with calm voice._

_Stefan was always impressed by Cade’s ability to be composed, calm, completely in control of his action and his voice even when the hell burned inside him._   
_Cade’s eyes were cold, dark, empty, they didn’t reflect any feelings, but the fire in the fireplaces was terrible, it looked like it was ready to burn the entire place down._   
_The Devil was furious and Stefan knew with who._

_“I need someone to take her place to procure me new Hunters. Someone who is more than capable of providing me new murders.”_

_Stefan rolled his eyes. Really ? Did Cade convocate them only to tell them that they had to find a new puppet for the Devil ?_   
_Stefan had better things to do._

_“I’m going to propose a challenge. Each one of you will have to find a new Hunter for me. You have two months, who fails will burn inside the Hell, losing the possibility of being saved forever.”_

_That last sentence caught the attention of everyone._   
_What was that ? A joke ? If it was the case it wasn’t funny at all._   
_Stefan was a good killer, an excellent Ripper, but he wasn’t a Head Hunter. How could he provide a new person to take the place at his right ?_   
_How could he damn someone else at his own doom ? How could he look someone in the eyes and turn him into a slave of Devil ?_   
_It wouldn’t even be a secret, he would have known him or her, his or her face, he would have seen the desperation in her or his eyes and he would have never forgiven himself._   
_He couldn’t do it. Klaus was his soul to save, he could have be saved, he would have been free of Cade forever. But what if he was wrong ?_   
_He didn’t want to burn in Hell forever._

_“The one who will provide me the best Hunter… instead… well he or she will find out. Eventually. Now… drink.”_

_The chalices in front of everyone filled with a strange dark liquid. Stefan made a grimace of disgust, he knew what he was going to drink. It was a potion, Cade explained that it was to reinforce the link of the Hunters with their owner. That potion also developed their powers, all their powers, it made them stronger. Its ingredients was made of the same sostanze of Hell, so that potion reinforced the link between them and the Hell._   
_Stefan hated that shit. It had a bitter taste, sour even. It was like drinking ten poisons in one time. It was painful too but necessary. If they didn’t drink, they couldn’t get out of that “dream” and they would get ill._   
_The dream chamber where they hunters was keeping by their powers and also their projection and it wasn’t a dream, it wasn’t exactly real but to create that Cade used the powers of the Hunters. That potion was useful to keep them strong after their meeting._   
_Stefan grabbed the chalice with anger but Cade stopped him._

_“No, Stefan. I have something to tell you before you go”_

_The other Hunters drank quickly the potion, probably scared that Cade would have asked to someone else to remain there._   
_Stefan put the chalice on the table and waited for Cade to tell him what to do, as an obedient puppy._   
_When all the other Hunters disappeared, Cade stood up, he put an hand on the table and he let his fingers slide on the surface of the table, while he was walking toward Stefan._   
_The Hunter instead remained where he was, sit on his chair, looking the fireplace in front of him, not dare to look at the Devil._   
_Cade stopped behind Stefan, then Stefan could feel that Cade was lowering, so he closed his eyes. He knew what was coming._   
_Cade kissed him forehead, the only action that Stefan allowed him to._

_“Exited for my challenge ? I hope you’ll find time to provide me an Hunter talented as you are. My, you’re not free yet and I miss you already” said Cade caressing his hairs._

_“I knew that this was only an excuse to delay the inevitable. You want me to waste my time on your little challenge to spend less time with Klaus. You’re…”_

_“Don’t ! Please, I’m angry, not make me angrier. I want to be gentle with you, my precious.”_

_“I’m not your precious, I’ll never be”_

_“Are you sure ?”_

_Suddenly Cade’s voice seemed so far away from him, it was just like an echo, like a sweet whisper full of promises of glory, richness and grandeur, the promise of realize a wish of lust and desire of Stefan, but that in reality belonged to Cade._   
_If only words could explained the Devil’s frustration toward the youngest of his Hunters…_   
_Without noticing, Stefan bend his head backwards, pushing it closer to Cade’s hand._   
_He could feel, by his touch, how much Cade wanted him in that moment._

_“Do you like how I’m touching you ?”_

_Stefan bitted his lips not to answer. He knew what Cade was trying to do, he already saw him doing it. It was a particular power of attraction that made Cade more desirable, more attractive, almost impossible to resist him._   
_That powers increased all the forbidden desires and wishes of anyone, increased the frustration of the people who saw denied their secret desired over and over again by their morals, and more that frustration increased more Cade became irresistible for his victims. In few words, Cade became everything the other wanted from his live._

_“Can I caress your neck ?”_

_Stefan wanted to scream No, but his head nodded before he could think rational._   
_Cade smirk cruelly, then his hands lowered toward Stefan’s neck and they started to caress him there. Stefan inclined his head more, keeping to bite his lips, trying to struggle against the desire to ask Cade for more._

_“Why you keep fighting me ? I want you so bad… no one’s ever desired you as I do. Why keep struggling ? Why are you so determinate to brake my heart ?”_

_What heart ? Cade didn’t have an heart, Stefan knew it. That man, if he could consider Cade a man, had a great empty space inside his chest where was supposed to be his heart. But in that moment… everything felt so insignificant…_   
_Cade’s fake pain sounded so real that Stefan almost begged him to forgive him for braking his heart._   
_Now he could feel Cade’s breath on his face, his lips so close to Stefan’s ones._

_“I can give you everything you want my precious. Everything… if you only grant yourself to me”_

_Another whisper, another touch, his breath on his face and Stefan moaned. His mouth so close to be kissed by Cade, if only he let him do it._   
_It had to be exiting for Cade corrupting people, good people like that._   
_Stefan, even if he was keeping his eyes closed, could see the cruel smirk of Cade._   
_Cade who was till touching him, Cade who could make all his dreams come true, Cade who was dragging him into an ocean of darkness…_

_“Klaus can’t give you what I can. Choose me… choose the darkness… let my flames burning you down”_

_For just one second, Stefan wished to be touched everywhere by Cade, to be his, but then he mentioned Klaus._   
_Klaus and his beautiful golden hair, with his beautiful shining smile…_   
_Klaus who made him so happy…_   
_That was enough for Stefan to grab Cade’s hands and took them off his neck._

_“You… won’t make a fool of me… Cade” said Stefan standing up and pushing Cade away from him._

_Cade’s eyes widened. Of course he wasn’t used to rejections, he was truly surprised that Stefan resisted to his spell. It’s never happened before._   
_Stefan smirked. Cade was used to have everyone he wanted. People sold their souls to him for gold, fame, they didn’t hesitate when he offered them everything they wanted. They craved to be his snakes, but Stefan was different._   
_He would never give his soul to that monster._

_“You’re a monster” he said “Don’t try me, Devil, because you’ll fail. You’ll never have me”_

_“Are so sure ? We’ll talk about it when you’re heart will shatter in pieces on the floor. When you’ll beg me in tears to be mine”_

_“That’s never going to happen. You can’t buy me, you’re promises are empty as your heart and Hell will never be home for me” said Stefan turning toward the chalice and taking him._

_“Do you think you’re so special ah ? You’re wrong. You will be mine, you will beg me to make you mine”_

_“I don’t think so”_

_Then Stefan drank his potion and he woke up, but not before having heard Cade screaming at him._

…

Stefan opened his eyes, again and smiled. There was a gain of the Devil in his eyes, but he didn’t care. He won over Cade, again.   
Klaus made him strong, Eri made him strong… He could do it.  
He only changed one of his skins. He wasn’t anymore a good normal boy with a gentle heart, but he still was a father, a brother, and maybe the savior of Klaus’ soul, so he didn’t have to give up.   
A knock at his door snapped Stefan by his thoughts.

“Otōsan, Mewosamasu jikandesu” said Eri opening the door of his bedroom. ( It's time to wake up ).

Stefan smiled at her and made her sign to came closer to him. Eri did and Stefan held her tight in his arms, smelling the adorable perfume of her red hair.  
It was so beautiful hugging his musume in that way for him. He would have been lost without her in his life. Eri was everything to him, she was his anchor, the only thing that prevented him from becoming a real monster.  
Eri looked at him as he was a hero, although she knew he was a Sinner Hunter.  
She saw the worst of him and nevertheless she still loved him.   
He knew he should tell her what Cade ordered him to do but not now, now he wanted to enjoy his moment with his musume.  
Unfortunately, someone else decided to disturb him.   
His phone rang and Stefan knew better than ignore that person so he answered.

“Hello Lexi, long time ah ?”

 


	13. First Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Something positive is finally happened in Stefan's life and he has all the intention of enjoying it. He has never been so closer to salvation and to be appreciated by someone else who wasn't his musume. But he isn't ready to accept his feeling toward Klaus completely, because he knows that without trust he can't hope to have a relationship of any kind with the hybrid. But he have to lie to Klaus, to protect him and to protect himself.

Stefan was exited that morning. His meeting with Cade and the other Hunters hadn’t affect his good mood.  
He had a beautiful dream that night, if it was a dream, he would have to wait to talk with Klaus before being sure, also his bes friend was coming there in New Orleans to visit him and Eri.  
Eri shared his good mood, she adored Lexi, she considered the blond as a sort of older sister, a confident, and Stefan wasn’t surprised. It was almost impossible not to love Lexi.  
He could’t wait for her to arrive there and hug her in his arms with all his strength. Only after their call Stefan realized how much he missed her.   
He was making pancakes for Eri, it didn’t matter if neither of them didn’t need to eat normal food, it was a special day and they both wanted something sweet.

“Otōsan wa, anata wa sore ga nani ga okotta no ka, kyō wa shiawase-sō ni miemasu ka?” asked Eri (Dad, you look happy today, what happened ?).

Eri noticed that her otōsan was shining of joy and she’s never seen him before like that, but she was happy.   
Her otōsan was smiling, and somehow he looked more beautiful than ever, even younger and Eri couldn’t take her eyes off him.

“Nanika ga kon'ya okotta, soreha yume ka nani ka hoka no monodatta baai, watashi wa shiranai... Shikashi, sore wa watashi o shiawaseni shimashita.” answered Stefan putting a pancake on Eri’s plate (Something happened tonight, I do not know if it was a dream or something but ... it made me happy.)

Stefan told her everything, while he was preparing a pancake for himself. He told her about Klaus, about what he though to have found out about his father, the way he abused his son, that Klaus killed his father twice without having an acceptable answer from the man about his deepest hatred toward him.  
Eri listened everything carefully, even if she wasn’t exactly excited of her otōsan being so happy talking about Klaus. Maybe she was paranoid, but she still feared that Klaus could have a bad influence over her otōsan.  
She should have just enjoyed a moment like that but she couldn’t, she felt that her father was hiding something from her and she was right.  
Stefan was trying to focus his museum’s attention on Klaus and his dream about him to avoid or, at least, delay their conversation about Cade and his stupid challenge.  
He had two months to find a Sinner Hunter worthy of Cade, but for now he didn’t want to think about it. Especially because he hoped not to be a Sinner Hunter anymore when the time would run out.   
He had to, he wouldn’t be responsible for the eternal damnation of an innocent person.  
Cade was subtle, manipulative, you needed to read through his words to fully understand him and Stefan did.  
He knew what the Devil meant as the Perfect Sinner Hunter… a poor innocent guy with a gentle hurt who turned himself into a monster for sacrificed as Stefan did.  
Cade’s told him since the started that the deepest Darkness didn’t belong to a cruel heart, but it born by the purest heart.   
Ei noticed that the smile on her otōsan’s face was less shining than before so she quickly asked him to keep talking.

“We spoke sincerely, really. He told me the truth about his father and for once I had the courage to tell someone the truth as well. That I killed my own father too.” said Stefan eating a piece of his pancake.

“Why ? Did you felt judge when you talked about your father with me ?” asked Eri a little bit offended.

“No, of course not. You’re my musume, you loves me, I know I can tell you everything and still you won’t judge me. But other people are not you, other people would judge me, if I tell them the truth, that was the main reason why I used to do my best to avoid contacts with other people”

“Well you can’t expect to be judge by someone like Klaus. But I’m happy for this dream. I do hope that it’s a sign that Klaus is your soul to save. Do you plan to talk with him about it ?”

In that moment Stefan’s cell rang and the vampire smiled. He had an idea of who was calling him.   
He grabbed the cell and answered.

“Good morning” he said smiling.

“Hello love, nice to hear that lovely voice of yours. This meant that… the dream…”

“Was real” confirmed Stefan smiling like a teenager at his first crush “Can we talk about it ?”

“I was hoping you would ask. I have no idea about what happened so I want to speak with you”

“Is the only reason why you want to speak with me ?” asked Stefan bitting his lower lip.

They haven’t spoken about their first kiss either, and Stefan truly needed to know what that gesture meant for the other. If it meant something.  
Stefan’s heart would be broken if Klaus told him that he kissed him only because he needed someone to consolate him.  
Stefan needed to know that Klaus really cared about him.   
He was a cynical guy who has stopped to believe in fairytales a long time ago, so Stefan didn’t have any illusion that Klaus could fell in love with him in the future, but at least he hoped not to be indifferent to the hybrid.  
And the kiss… the kiss was amazing. He could still feel Klaus’ taste on his lips, the softness of his golden hair through his fingers.   
God, his little crush for Klaus maybe wasn’t so little as Stefan wanted to believe.

“Of course not sweetheart. Last night… the kiss was… well we’re going to talk about it later. When can we meet ?”

Klaus sounded quite impatient to talk to him and Stefan hoped it was a positive sign.   
He looked at Eri who whispered him to meet Klaus in the morning, because Lexi would arrive in the afternoon.  
Stefan proposed Klaus to meet in two hours and Klaus accepted.

“Can’t wait to see you again love, by”

“By” said Stefan.

He looked up and noticed that Eri was looking at him with a look of someone who had seen long in his conversation with the hybrid.

“Nǐ néng gàosù wǒ, bàba?” asked Eri with a little smirk. (Nothing you want to talk about ?)

Stefan lowered his gaze, at least he had the decency of trying not to look so smug about the kiss. If he had to be sincere he didn’t feel at easy to talk with Eri about the kiss, it wasn’t suppose to be an argument to discuss with his own musume, but he quickly remembered that Eri was a kitsune. If she was determinate enough to want know something from him, she would have found a way to make him opening his mouth.

“I know that something happen between you and the hybrid. He went here for you yesterday, but you weren’t here and I told him to look for you in Church. So, I know you two met. What happen ?” asked Eri with bossy tone.

“First, be nice.” said Stefan even if he wasn’t angry at all, more amused actually, then he said “Secondly, he kissed me and I kissed him back. We’re going to talk about the kiss too when we met”

If Eri was angry, torn, stunned, surprised or happy (yes, fun joke) for her otōsan, she surely made an excellent work for hiding it.  
Her face remained composed but then a little smile appeared on her lips. At least she was forcing herself to be happy for her otōsan, even if she couldn’t deny that she would have been happier if Stefan kissed someone else instead of Klaus. Maybe with little time and more patient, Eri would finally appreciate Klaus.   
She had to, both knew it.

“At least he’s handsome. I wouldn’t have accepted if he had been ugly other than jerk” commented Eri finishing her pancake.

“Eri, please, be nice. I’ve already told you. I don’t like when you talk in that way, it’s rude, inappropriate and…”

“Yes, yes… as you wish, otōsan. I’m going to my room. Lexi promise me to spend the entire afternoon doing shopping with her.” said Eri kissing him on the cheek “Have fun with Klaus”

Stefan grabbed her by her arm, then he held her tight and kissed her hair, then on her cheek.

“I will be with you two. No one will prevent me to spend a lovely day with my two favorite girls”.

“I hope so. When I talked with her, I could feel she was worry about something. And I can feel you’re hiding something from me as well. Whatever it is… I hope you start to figure out a solution already. I have the bad feeling that time is not at out part this time”

Then Eri went to her bedroom and closed the door.   
Stefan sighed. Sometime he had the great deep dubious that his musume was a psychic or a watcher or something like that, because she always seemed to know things before they actually happened.   
Sometimes he truly wandered who, between him and her, was the true adult.   
Eri was far mature than her age, she’s always been, since the day they met. She always knew what was better to do, what was better for them and even when he screwed up everything, she was always ready to help him, with everything. He was completely aware that he has been neglecting her recently and he felt ashamed for it.  
He stood up and went to his bedroom to prepare himself for his encounter with Klaus.   
He refused to consider it a date, at least not before to have talked with Klaus about their kiss and their current situation.   
He didn’t even dress up himself, he just… okay, he maybe, maybe, dressed up himself, trying to evidence his best qualities, like his eyes, so he wore a dark green jacket and things like that.   
He also spent more time than usual to fix his hair.   
God, he was pathetic, maybe he should have prayed God more.   
If he was luck, that was the first date he’s ever had in his life. His little encounters with Katherine didn’t mean anything because he was gay, even if he was in complete denial at time.   
He didn’t know what it was supposed to do in a date, what he was supposed to say…   
“I’m going to embarrass myself, I’m sure of it’.  
He looked himself at the mirror one last time and then sighed. It was too late to run away for him, but he still hoped not to mess up the only chance he had to be safe from Hell.  
He convinced himself that it was the only reason.   
Stefan wasn’t ready to admit that he was scared to loose something else over his salvation.

…

Henry was really enjoying the entire situation and he didn’t even try to look less smug than he really was.   
He was glad that Cade was biting his neck in that way, almost making him bleed, like he was a vampire instead of a Demon.   
Henry enjoyed the pain anyway. It was all he could feel, the only sensation that didn’t disappear through the years.   
So he let Cade completely dominating the game, he let the Devil grabbed him by his throat, pushing him against the black pillow, taking him rough, with great violence and more the hurt increased and more pleasure Henry could feel.   
Cade scratched the skin of his wrists. The right wrist started to bleed but Cade grabbed it again and started to suck it and licked it.

“Is my blood sweet enough for you… Daddy ?” asked Henry with a smirk.

“Sweet… as it’s always been. Satisfying enough to pleasure me but not enough to make me completely satisfied. My dear”

“Daddy… your little baby don’t satisfy you anymore as he used to be… pity for me. Is Daddy still waiting for his Prodigal Son ins’t him ?” asked Henry almost laughing.  
  
Cade slapped him right in the face, but Henry moaned for the pleasure. He loved irritating the Devil. The black eyes of Cade looked deeper and darker when someone mentioned his Prodigal Son.  
Every God, no matter if bad or good, had his Prodigal Son, the rebel, the Troublemaker and Cade was not an exception.   
It tortured Cade inside the knowledge that Stefan would never be one of his toy, that one of the Devil’s snakes refused to follow his own owner like the others.   
Cade was control freak, Henry knew this. The Devil needed to keep everything under control, he needed to know his Hunters’ inner thoughts, they next moves, always.  
He didn’t tolerate any act of insubordination or disobedience, or rejection. He didn’t tolerate that one of his snaked didn’t worship him as the God he though he was.   
That was the reason why Henry learnt the Verbis Diablo, an ancient language whose use blacken the hearts of those who spoke it, but if you knew how to use it properly, it could guarantee a valuable mean to protect yourself from Devil and demons like Cade.   
Henry used it, several times, to protect his own thoughts and actions from Cade.   
The first time he did, Cade took him so hard, so violent that Henry though, for a moment, that he was going to burn in Hell forever and so the second time, and the third, until Cade gave up for good.  
Henry could use Verbis Diablo to protect himself but he couldn’t teach it to anyone else and he couldn’t even use it to protect another Hunter from Cade. Nor that there was any possibility, Hunters rarely saw each other.

“Shut that lovely mouth of your up, Henry. Remember that you are a son of Hell as well.”

“Well I wasn’t so hard to get it… was I ? I was a broken little child the first time that you saw me, and you saved. I looked in the eye of the Devil and I gave him my soul… and I don’t regret it” said Henry whispering the last sentence in Cade’s ear.

Cade pushed Henry’s head against the pillow and kissed him, invading his mouth with his tongue, sucking and biting his lips, making his lower lip bleed as well. Then Cade kissed him again, and Henry kissed him back, surrounded his neck with his both arms and pushing his face closer.

“Then why do you keep pushing me away ? What are you hiding from me ? My little knight ?”

Henry laughed then he kissed him and this time it was him who bite the other so strong to make him bleed, then he said “Curious… Now I know that Devils could bleed as well…”

…

Stefan was late, he was conscious of it. He’s been observing Klaus, who was waiting him at the table inside the Rousseau’s, for twenty minutes.  
He was scared, scared to death, that was the truth. He was there, after all, he was just thinking about running away at the las second, there was nothing wrong about it… No, okay, his entire though was wrong. He could do it.   
He opened the bar’s door and entered inside and he could hear the thought of two girls sitting near the door, they were thinking he was handsome and they hoped that he would have tried to him on one of them.  
He could hear the bartender’s thought about how boring she was about her job.  
For once he could almost hear, to at least wander, Klaus’ angry thoughts about his delay.

“I though for a moment that you wouldn’t come. You made me worry” said Klaus while Stefan was sitting in front of him.

“Sorry, I’ve… I’ve…”

Fantastic, he was stuttering already. He wasn’t even able to speak properly, as a normal guy and only now he was noticing that his hands were trembling.

“Oh my, you actually considered to stand me up didn’t you ?” asked Klaus, who was looking more amusing now.

Klaus was an excellent observant, he always seemed to know and understand people, and there wasn’t need of an expert to realize that Stefan wasn’t exactly the date material.  
It made him look cuter at Klaus’ eyes.   
Klaus had a lot of dates, encounters and things like that with other people through the centuries, so it was a good thing that at least one of them knew what to do in that kind of situations. But he wanted to tease Stefan a little more, he found it incredibly fun.   
Stefan was so cute and Klaus still remembered how beautiful the toddler vampire could be when he blush. He saw him blushing in the dream after all.

“No no no… I… I didn’t…”

Stefan was avoiding his gaze and Klaus smiled asking again “Is because of the kiss right ? Is the reason why you’re avoiding to look me in the eye too ?” asked Klaus.

“Wha… okay, sorry. It’s… well… I guess I’m not exactly the date material”

“Yeah, this is obvious, love. But it’s not a problem for me. On the contrary it makes me feel flattered and surprised actually. How could be possible that anyone had tried to hit on you before ?” asked Klaus taking one Stefan’s hand.

“One guy did, but I didn’t like him. I’ve never liked anyone actually, not in the way that I like you. Not even when I was human, I couldn’t” said Stefan shrugging.

“You’ve been with Katherine” said Klaus with obvious irritation.

“I doesn’t mean that I liked her. I… I’m gay, I’ve always been. When I was human I have to hide it from my family and after I didn’t find anyone who I was willing to have a relationship with.”

“So… Katherine was a loophole and nothing more ?” asked Klaus who wasn’t even trying to hide his cheerfulness.

“We can call it that way, yes. I really like you and… I’m scared to screw up everything. Ridiculous right ?” asked Stefan “After all, I’m not even sure whether you like me or not. Maybe I misunderstood the entire situation, maybe the dream was only a dream and…”

Whatever idiocy Stefan was going to say was stopped by Klaus’ lips.  
Klaus was more shameless than Stefan, he didn’t care if people around them were looking them or judging them. The hybrid couldn’t care less if he had to be sincere.   
Stefan was saying a lot of nonsense and even though Klaus still considered him adorable, he was tired of waiting to get what he wanted.  
The truth was that Klaus had the strong wish to kiss Stefan since the moment the toddler entered in the bar.   
Klaus truly had feared that Stefan had decided not to come at their appointment, he truly had thought that maybe the dream, or the kiss was too much for Stefan and because of it he decided not to come.   
Klaus wasn’t a date material either, if he had to be sincere. Yes, he had a lot of stories, one-night stands, but… he had few serious relationship and the last of it didn’t end well.   
Now he was determinate to do things right with Stefan, without wasting not even a second with him.  
With Camille… he wasted and lost a lot of important occasion to make her happy and in the end she died because of him. But now, with Stefan he had another chance to be happy again, with someone who said he liked him, twice.

“Nice way to make me shut up… maybe I should babbling more in future” said Stefan smug.

“Maybe. But I hope you know understand that the kiss meant something to me. Really, I don’t kiss someone at random each time that I feel the world falling on my shoulders. But as you know, the kiss isn’t the only reason why I wanted to meet you.”

“Yeah, I know. You want to talk about the dream as well.”

Klaus nodded, he was going to speak again but then a waitress came toward them and asked for their ordinations.   
Klaus and Stefan gave her their requests and then she went away.

“Now we know for sure that it wasn’t a normal dream. It was real, somehow. Did you have an explanation ? Because I couldn’t say that I have one” said Klaus.

“No. I hoped you have one, actually. You are more expert than me about magic, you once told me that you’re older sister is witch” said Stefan.

“I did, but Freya said that someone could have put a spell on us, to create a Chambre de chasse. But I don’t think it’s the reason. But, whatever it was… it was like it created a sort of link between you and me. Can you understand ?” asked Klaus hopefully.

“I think it did. I mean, I told you a lot of things in that dream, things that I thought I would have never told anyone but Eri. Instead with you… well, you don’t judge me. You seem to understand me better than anyone and I wouldn’t mind if something like that happen again”

“Neither would I” said Klaus with a shining smile.

The waitress arrived with their drinks in that moment, but Stefan barely noticed her.   
The only thing he could look at was Klaus and his beautiful smile.   
He really liked the hybrid, he knew it and for now “like” was the only kind of feeling he was willing to accept.

“So, what are we now ? Are we an item ?” asked Stefan.

“Of course love, I would never let anyone have you but me. If I don’t take the occasione someone may tries to hit on you and takes you away and can’t let it happen.”

Stefan smiled and then he drunk his drink. He was happy about the entire situation.   
He could say that it was the first time that he was with someone else, that he had a sort of relationship and he was happy.  
He couldn’t wait for Lexi to arrive to tell her everything. She would be very happy for him, he knew it.

…

One bite… two bites… three bruises… pain all over his body…  
Henry was counting the bruised and the bites all over his body while he was taking a bath in his hotel room.  
Henry was glad. Cade really did a number on him, but he was satisfied.   
Cade may was a powerful psychic and Demon, but Henry had a lot of tricks in the book too. He knew how to extinguish information to Cade better than anyone.   
He knew what the Devil had in his little stupid mind, he knew his next moves, he knew his deepest secrets.  
Cade wanted his Prodigal Son in his arms, but he wouldn’t have Stefan until his soul to save was in the way.   
Henry didn’t want to see who was lucky one who had to be saved by Stefan. He didn’t care at all.   
If he were less proud, he would have admitted that he envied Stefan with what remained of his darken heart. The toddler was lucky, really.   
Stefan Salvatore had been able to preserve the light inside his heart, although he was one of the best Hunters of Cade, he had been able to resist Devil’s advances and now he also found his soul to save and he was going to be free of Cade forever.  
That hit all Henry’s nerve and it made him a little, just a little, tense, for not saying something else.  
Henry smiled anyway.   
It was too late for regret. He should have played his card better when he was Cade’s lover and he had Cade wrapped around his little finger.  
He closed his eyes and he soaked his head underwater.   
God… he could still hear Cade’s screams while he was burning to the stake.   
In the fire he burned down with their hatred toward him. That was quite impressive for Henry.   
Hatred was a strong feeling and a dangerous weapon when it used in the properly way, but he could have never imagined that a so human feeling could create a place like Hell.  
Henry had been there, in the house of the Devil, a place where you felt sorrow, pain, regret, fear, sadness everywhere.   
Feelings were so humans… and humans created horrible things when they wanted.   
He knew why Cade needed to kill sinners. It wasn’t for a personal mission to clean the world by the scum, no.  
If Hell existed it was all due to the amount of sins that created it.   
More sinners were damned there, more powerful Hell and Cade became stronger.   
So sins were the petrol of Hell…  
Well, Henry wasn’t interested in destroying Hell, he was interested in killing Cade, but he couldn’t do it without making him weaker.   
He read his mind and he knew that here was a way to kill him once and for all and he also knew where to go to find out more information.   
But he was positive about finding a solution. Cade was human once, he could be again.  
He went into his room, he dressed up and finished to prepare his baggage.  
Then he used Verbis Diablo.

“Itsi sist. Eksleebire. Ye non hun wesrat horri. Emi non khur uu reshtoeth muirepmi terprai Yesun Khriiston.”

Henry smiled. Now Cade couldn’t know where he was going neither what he was planning to do.   
But first, he needed to go to Church before to leave Las Vegas.  
He was a monster, but he still had a little hope that God could still forgive him someday.

…

Stefan and Klaus were spending good time together.   
Stefan was allowed to ask more question about Klaus’ father, and Klaus tell him about little episodes of his childhood with his father, how Mikael managed to burn down New Orleans with the help of Marcel and Rebekah. And when talking about Mikael became too painful, they changed their subject.   
Then Stefan, to be fair, talked about his father more, but also about his human life in general.   
But all the joys were short lived for them, suddenly in the bar entered Marcel with a young blond female vampire.  
Stefan could see clearly Klaus getting tense and when Marcel noticed them he wasn’t glad about the entire situation either.   
Stefan looked at Klaus and he saw that Klaus’ hands where trembling and tightened his lips.

“Do you want to go…”

Stefan didn’t even finish the sentence that Klaus got up, came closer to Marcel and dragged him out the bar.   
‘God helps me’ Stefan thought putting some money on the table.

“Hey, sweetheart, are you sure to want follow them ? Why don’t you go back and drink something with me ?” asked the blond vampire grabbed him by his arm with strength.

Stefan smiled.   
She was an older vampire than him, so she though to frighten him easily. Stefan smirked, he grabbed her wrist with strength, almost breaking it, and she had to feel it, because she was rather surprise.

“I’m sorry ma’am, but I have to go. Look around, you will find someone else to waste your time with”

Then he opened the door and went away.   
Of course Marcel and Klaus weren’t fighting as two little childcare in front of the bar, but Stefan could easily find them.   
He only had to concentrate on Marcel’s sins, then they would lead him toward the two older vampires. So he did.   
They weren’t so smart as they though. He found them in the next alley.   
Klaus has already pushed Marcel against the opposite wall.

“How did you dare do that to me ? What do you want to prove to yourself ?” asked Klaus full of anger.

“Klaus, please let him be. What done is done, let’s….” tried to say Stefan

“NO !! You don’t have any idea of how it had been coming back home with those strangers people, knowing that my daughter was looking at me from his bedroom’s windows because she was waiting for me !” said Klaus toward both Stefan and Marcel.

Actually Stefan had an idea, but he didn’t want to talk about it in front of Marcel and neither wanted to be at center of the attention.   
But Klaus’ words gave him an idea.

“What do you think she would think of you if she see you so angry and violent toward another person ? Marcel is a Beast, you don’t have to be a monster as well”

“My daughter is a card you’re not allowed to play. Marcel was one of the main reason why I lost my former bloodline, he also dared to put me on a trial, where he asked all my bloodline to partecipate and reprove me all my faults”

’There had to be really a lot then’ Stefan thought with irony. Well, if Klaus weren’t a real sinner he wouldn’t have been his soul to save.   
And Stefan knew Klaus by his fame and reputation even before to actually meet him.   
Stefan accepted Klaus and his sins, but he had to put an end on them too.   
He’s already made the terrible mistake to put Klaus and Marcel against each other, he had let burn a fire that should have been extinguished, even if it was due to a good reason.   
Now he was sure to have made a mistake.   
If he want to save Klaus’s soul, pushing Klaus to hate Marcel war was the wrongest thing he could do. Stefan had to stop Klaus from getting revenge against Marcel.

“You know why I did it ! You’re not the only father over here !! You let your family killed Davina !! You let her dying !! You took her away from me !!” screamed Marcel pointing a finger against Klaus.

“Yes, your precious little witch, who attempted to kill me and hurt my family several times !! She was the reason why I lost my bloodline !!”

“Yes, because she wanted to use that magic to resurrect one of your dirty brothers !! The same one who bleed her !”

“It wasn’t Kol’s fault, you know it !”

“Why don’t you take your responsibilities for once in your life and admit your own faults ?? You’re not an innocent, you’re not a victim here !!”

“Surely you’re not a victim either ! You blame me to be a monster but for my new bloodline… you’ll be the monster. They know what you have done to them and I hope for you that no one them will never put you on a trial for your faults”

“I’m sorry for them, but not for you”

Stefan listened carefully the entire conversation. Did Marcel put Klaus on a trial ? Really ? Who did he think he was ? God ? No one had the right to judge someone else but God.   
Well, he could understand Marcel better now.   
Stefan had already killed someone who tried to hurt Eri, who tried to take his musume away from him. He destroyed and devastated the entire Monterey to have his revenge.   
Compared to him, Marcel has been merciful.   
The two older vampire were still screaming against each other when he began to talk.

“It was the year 1917, the day of the Christmas eve, to be more specific. I and my musume were in Monterey, it wan’t our destination, we were just passing though. There was a migrant village, when they saw me they though I was a rich guy and they attempted to kidnap my musume to blackmail me. I lost it. I massacred the entire village, I bleed every single person, even the children, only to protect my musume.”

Stefan stopped to talk, just to take a breath, meditating whether he should continue his story or not. He looked at the two older vampire and he saw that, at least, he caught their attention.   
Klaus and Marcel looked really interested in his story.  
Marcel was the first to take word.

“So… you’re not a common ripper, you’re THE ripper. You’re the Ripper of Monterey. I’ve heard about you a lot. You’re a legend” said Marcel more amused than horrified.

Stefan didn’t consider that surname something to be proud of. He didn’t even have the courage to look Klaus while he was talking.   
The truth was that he didn’t enjoy talking about what happen in Monterey.  
Hell, he has remember for a long time the specific day he did what he did.   
It was Cade who remembered him once, just to spite him.   
He continued to talk, ignoring Marcel’s comment.

“That night… when I found my musume… I’ve had blood all over my face, my clothes… but she recognized me anyway. That was the worst part. That she recognized me. I looked like a monster that night, I was a monster… I acted like a beast and she recognized me. She recognized the monster that was her father”

Only now he realized that he was crying. Tears clouded his sight, like a veil, but he couldn’t stop. He could never forget how bad, how guilty, full of shamed he felt when Eri saw him and saw what he had done.   
He felt so overwhelmed by the fear of having lose her forever… She had all the reason to. But she didn’t, she hugged him, took his hand and then they went away together.

“I made a mistake, a huge terrible mistake that night. Now, you can kill Marcel… Klaus and then come back home, not anymore as an innocent but guilt. One of the vampire of Marcel will knock at your door, blaming your for the death of the King and maybe your daughter will listen… what will she think of you ?”

Klaus tried to respond but not sound came out. He didn’t have any answer to give.   
What happened yesterday with those guys wasn’t his fault. He killed them because he was under Marcel’s compulsion, but if he decided to kill the Beast now, he would have been guilty and maybe his daughter would have seen him for the monster he used to be, and maybe still was.  
No, he couldn’t let it happen, he would never forgive himself.  
But then he read Marcel’s mind and he learn the next move of the Beast. Biting Klaus and letting him die.  
Stefan had been faster than him, though. He ut himself between Marcel and Klaus, shielded the Hybrid with his body.  
Stefan knew that his compulsion on Marcel still worked, Marcel couldn’t even lay a finger on him, he couldn’t.  
So until Stefan shielded Klaus with his body, Marcel couldn’t hurt the hybrid too.  
In fact Marcel stopped himself few steps in front of Stefan.

“I’ve nothing against you, toddler. Get out on my way”

“No, I’m not letting you hurt Klaus” said Stefan without any fear.

“Stefan, you should go away” said Klaus who didn’t want Stefan to be hurt by Marcel.

“He won’t hurt me. He’s already made too many wrong move recently. He let a lot of his vampires dying, because of his proud, he made you turn innocent people into vampires. He is far away from his ideal self and he knows it. Why don’t you make both of us a little favor and go away ?” asked Stefan using his compulsion on the last part of his sentence.

Marcel blinked, a little confused. He was the strongest vampire of the world, he couldn’t be compelled by a toddler vampire, he was sure of it. But still…   
Well he would have thought about it after being arrived home, since he couldn’t stay there anyway. His will had been compromised again.  
Klaus, who recognized the use of compulsion, was making himself the same answers of Marcel. How could Stefan compel Marcel ? If it was compulsion, but how else could it be ?   
He’s been using compulsion for over a millennium, he could recognize when someone else used it. He almost scared to ask Stefan how his compulsion could be efficient on Marcel.

“Will you ever tell me the truth ? All the truth about your… ability ?”

“I told you Klaus, I’ve no special ability. I don’t use compulsion…”

“Don’t you dare insulting my intelligence, Stefan. I’ve been using compulsion for longer than you, I know how it works, I know how people react at compulsion”

“I didn’t use it. He knew I was right, he just couldn’t admit it. As I said to him, he knew that he far from his ideal self. He wants, no, he needs to prove to himself to be better than you. But right here right now, he’s the first who doesn’t believe it. Killing me would just prove it.”

“You know, you’re really good at understanding people, I don’t know how you do it. You’re not just an observant, you… I don’t even know. Why did you defend me ? You heard what Marcel said about me, about what I’ve done to him. Why ?”

“Because I didn’t want Marcel to hurt you. Why can’t you just believe me ?” asked Stefan almost desperate.

“Because you’re hiding too much things to me.”

“I’ve never told a lie to you”

“I don’t believe you. Why do you keep lying to me ??”

‘Because I need you to be saved’, that was the correct answer even if it wasn’t the noblest one. At least it was the only one he was willing to accept. He needed Klaus to be saved, to give Eri the family she deserved, to have the life that both of them deserved.   
Yes, he liked Klaus a lot, but not enough not to let Marcel hurting him.  
But hurting was a thing, killing… was another pair of hands.   
He had to keep Klaus alive if he wanted to be safe.   
But he couldn’t say it. So Stefan just kissed him. He grabbed his face with his hands and kissed him, passionately almost desperately.   
His tongue invaded hybrid’s mouth, trying to transmitting into that gesture how much he really cared about him.  
Because Stefan did care about Klaus. Because he wanted to kiss him, because he wanted his young to dance with Klaus’ ones, because he wanted to caress his golden hair.  
Because he wanted the blond to understand that he didn’t want to hurt him.

“Can you believe me when I say that I care about you ?” asked Stefan stopping to kiss the other.

 


	14. Fathers and Daughters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stefan's having problems with Klaus due to his secret life as Hunter and he is scared to lose him forever. He's also worry for Cade's task, because he doesn't want to be responsible for the damnation of another innocent. Fortunately, his friend Lexi and his musume Eri are ready to help him.   
> Klaus enjoyes a pleasant afternoon with his daughter.  
> Cade instead plans his next move with the help of another hunter.

Stefan wasn’t enjoying the much as he should have done. The truth was that he wasn’t in the mood for smiling and pretending that his life wasn’t a living mess.   
He was having lunch with Lexi, who arrived two hours ago, and Eri in a luxurious restaurant. Money weren’t a problem, since he was a vampire and he used compulsion on the owner.   
Yes, the compulsion had been the cause of all his current problems with Klaus, but he wanted to spend an pleasant afternoon with Lexi, and she deserved the best from him.   
But it wasn’t easy, specially because it happen that when he was in bad moon he could feel the other’s sins much more intensely. It made harder for Stefan to ignore them and the need to kill all the people inside that fucking restaurant became stronger second by second.   
God, he couldn’t wait for tonight for a good hunt. It sounded so cruel from him, but Stefan wasn’t always able to control that kind of thoughts. Sometime the need of killing someone was too irresistible. And the thought that no one of his victims would fo to heaven it looked even more appealing to him.  
Why should he desired heaven for his victims when he couldn’t go there himself ?   
He was going to have an headache if it continued this way.

“Grumpy, you’re depressing me. I came here with good news but it seems that you have bad news for me in return. What’s going on ?” asked Lexi.

“Probably Klaus told him something that pissed him off” answered Eri stopping quickly to smile at the mention of the hybrid.

“Eri, please, it’s not always Klaus’ fault if something goes wrong”

“Geez, you really don’t like the guy ah Eri ?” asked Lexi caressing the ginger’s hair.

“Oh, you could say it. But I’m making an effort to be nice with him. But I’m not glad that he’s the soul that needs to be saved by otōsan.”

“Well, I met him once. While I was in New Orleans. He flirted with me, a lot, but I knew he wanted only thing from me and I didn’t like his behavior at all. I know his a sadistic monster, psychopath, murder, manipulative… but…”

“But what ?” asked Stefan tiring of talking about Klaus.

“Always better than Damon. Everyone is better than that dickhead for me” said Lexi shrugging.

Stefan sighed. How could be possible that the two most important women of his life hated the two most important men of his life ?  
He meant… Klaus was his soul to save, he was fundamental for his salvation and Eri hadn’t stood him since the started.  
Damon was his older brother and it didn’t matter if he turned his back on Stefan, the younger guy loved him anyway, but Lexi hated him even more now. Until it was only Damon he could handle it. Damon almost killed Lexi once and Stefan had to save her. It was a luck that he didn’t found Damon in that circumstances, the coward had run away before Stefan could have been tempted of burning him down alive.   
But now ? Why could’t them just be… glad for him ? Klaus wasn’t his soul to save by his choice after all.

“Listen… I don’t want to talk about either Klaus or Damon, okay ? So stop his two of my soft spots and let’s talk about something else, shall we ?”

“Okay, little grumpy. I have news for you. I don’t know whether they will make you happier or not, but desperate situations require desperate measures.” said Lexi lowering her voice.

“Please, tell me you didn’t sell Damon’s soul to Cade only to save mine” said Stefan fearing what he was going to hear.

“No… But thanks for the suggestion. If my plan don’t work, I already have a second plan.” said Lexi too cheerfully for Stefan’s taste.

“Lexi… time passed… tying to get over it”

“Why should her ? I mean, I’ve never met uncle Damon and I already hate him with all my heart for have abandoning you.” said Eri rolling her eyes.

Stefan sighed again. It was in moments like that the he hoped not to meet Damon ever again in his life. Damon was soft spot for him, softest than Klaus for sure and he didn’t like talking about him. He rarely spoke about Damon with Eri, only when she’s particularly determinate to know something about his life.   
He tried to create a positive imagine of Damon, because he didn’t want his musume to have his oldest brother, but Eri was so smart, intuitive and she easily read behind his words. She understood quickly that Damon hadn’t been the perfect old brother with Stefan.   
Lexi also wasn’t helpful to him to make Damon looking good at his musume’s eyes.

“Okay, stop soft spots. What kind of news you have for me ?”.

“Well… I’ve spent the last years looking for someone who can actually help us. Do you remember your lovely colleague ? Henry Knight ?”

“Henry ? How did you find him ? Five years ago I needed his help, I’ve looked for him since then. He’s the best when it comes to disappear” said Stefan surprised.

“What did you need from him ? No, it doesn’t matter now, He said that he will call you, eventually. What I want to say is that Henry and I have a deal.”

“You… what ?” asked Stefan.

“Why ? Oba Lexi, making a deal with a sinner hunter is almost as dangerous as making a deal with Cade himself. And… Henry… he’s not a normal Sinner Hunter like others. He’s different.” said Eri worrying.

“Listen, I know he used to be Cade’s lover. He openly admitted it to me. But I was desperate. I didn’t know you’ve already found your soul to save, what I knew was that I’m tired of seeing you so unhappy and miserable. And… I don’t want anyone else to be miserable like you in the future. I want to stop Cade once and for all”.

“And you think that Henry will help you ? Lexi, he own his powers to Cade, without him he would have been nothing. He would have been ashes a long time ago. What would he get in return helping you ?”.

“I don’t know, but there’s a reason why I looked for him and not for another Hunter. He’s the only one who can hide secrets from Cade”

“Of course, He knows the Verbis Diablo. He used it to hide from Cade the fact that… well… he used not to make Cade knowing about our first encounter. I don’t know Verbis Diablo but I do know what it could do to people’s hearts. Henry is an hot mess and I’m shivering of fear at the only thought of what he could have asked to you”

“He only asked for revenge and I know he’s an hot mess. But he knows Cade’s secrets, he can find out a way to kill Cade. Because, by his words, I’m pretty sure that the Devil has no intention of letting you go.”

“They have a deal. Cade can’t brake his own rules” said Eri.

“No… but he can change them” said Stefan.

Hell was Cade’s reign. There were rules to respect but the same rules had been established by Devil himself. He could change the rules of the game at his pleasure and no one could object.   
Stefan knew that he was special to Cade, somehow. He knew that Cade was determinate to make Stefan his future lover, to drag him in a never ending ocean of darkness, lust and desire. He could feel the Devil’s desire for him in his touch, while he was caressing his hair, his neck, while he was trying to convince Stefan to kiss him. Cade knew how to get what he wanted after all.   
The truth was that Stefan had no loophole since he accepted to dance on the Devils playground.

“Otōsan… tonight you didn’t only dream Klaus right ? You had a reunion with Cade too. What did he say ?” asked Eri.

Why was she so smart ? Not that he wasn’t proud, maybe it was him who wasn’t completely incapable of lying to her.   
He couldn’t hide the truth longer, the sooner he would tell them about Cade’s request, the sooner they would find a solution together. They had to, because Stefan couldn’t imagine to turn an innocent person into a monster like he was. A Sinner Hunter…   
There couldn’t be a worst destiny, being a slave of a selfish creature who took everything away from you and then tossed you away like a piece of rubbish. That was what Cade did to them. He took their soul, their heart, their body, their humanity, their freedom and left the emptiness inside.   
And Cade wanted all of this from Stefan, not matter what. But he didn’t want to talk about Cade now, neither about his senseless request.

“I don’t want to talk about it now. Please, can we ignore the fact that I’m a Sinner Hunter for a couple of hours and pretend that we are a normal family for once ?” asked Stefan almost begging.

Eri sighed. She didn’t agree with it, because if Cade was plotting something against her otōsan she wanted to know it as soon as possibile.   
Lexi instead nodded. She knew Stefan, if he refused to talk about something, there was no way to persuade him to change his mind. She also understood the need of her best friend to pretend, for few hours, to live a normal live.   
Being the main object of desire of a Devil shouldn’t be a pleasure thing.

“So… talk me about this Klaus.”

…

Klaus was spending some time with her daughter Hope. His little wolf spent the morning with Auntie Freya and apparently she saw something she was really interested about. Bignè.   
Freya bought her all the bignè her niece wanted, but Hope wanted eat them with her father.  
So, when Klaus came back home, Hope asked him to eat bignè with her.  
Klaus accepted without hesitations, not only because he was still angry because of Stefan’s lies, but also because he hoped that something sweet could have made him feel better, less embitter and furious.

“Here” said Klaus reaching a bignè toward Hope.

Hope bitted it and then she exclaimed “Mmm… It’s so good.”

Hope look really glad, she was really enjoying bignè, another thing Klaus was learning about his little wolf.

“Did I ever tell you the story of my first bignè ?” asked Klaus.

Hope made sign of no with her head.

“No ? You are in for a treat. Long ago three French nuns came to New Orleans looking for a fresh start. They came here, they marched right into our contrary and they presented to your uncle Elijah and me with these rather lumpy looking, sugar-coated pastries. I need to say we were entranced, we set them up quite well”

It wasn’t completely a lie. He avoided all the useless details, trying to made it look more like a fairy tail than another thing.   
Hope listened him carefully all the time, both curious and fascinated by the stories of his life. Another good point to have lived over a one thousand years was that Klaus had a lot of stories to tell to his lovely daughter. Well, he had to do a selection as well.   
He wasn’t ready to admit all his cruelty to his daughter. He wanted her to believe he was a shining knight longer.  
If he thought that there was a time when he would have been willing to give up on her easily.

“Why did they come to you ?” asked Hope.

“Because, there was a time, when we were regarded as royalty. You might even go so far as to say I was a king which make you… a princess”

Hope smiled, blushing a little. Klaus loved when her soft cheeks got in that way, so pink, so human, so innocent. His daughter was beautiful, the most beautiful thing of his life. And he loved when he heard her laughing, specially when it was him to make her laugh.   
Klaus had been the main reason why a lot of people had tears to shed over their losses, pain, and griefs, but for Hope he hoped he would be the main reason to make her smile and laugh forever.  
He knew she suffered during the last five years, when he was imprisoned and she missed the affection of her daddy.

“Daddy, do you think that Eri will appreciate some bignè ?” asked Hope taking another bignè and biting it.

“I think so. It seems that you’re good friends now”

Even if he was angry with her father, the thought of the little ginger girl made him smile. It didn’t matter that Eri didn’t like him, he admired that little girl. She was mature enough to take care alone of a father who suffered of depression, brave enough to wander into the woods alone and to talk back to him. She was a devoted and loyal daughter who felt deep love for her father and Klaus wished Hope to love him at the same way.

Hope nodded cheerfully then she said “She’s the first friend I’ve ever had. You know, I’ve spent the last five years traveling with mum, looking a cure for you all and… well, I didn’t have a lot of possibilities to have friends” said Eri licking the sugar on her lips.

“I’m sorry, my princess. I would have never wanted you to suffer so much because of me” said Klaus caressing her hair.

“It’s not a big deal. I’m happy now, you’re here with me and mommy and I have a new friend. Her daddy is cute too. Do you like him ?” asked Hope innocently.

Innocently like every child, and then why Klaus read a double sense in that question ? Because he was used to it, specially with a younger brother like Kol, but he couldn’t feel at ease talking about Stefan with his daughter. He didn’t want to torn her.

“He seems to be a good guy and he’s not trying to hurt our family, which is almost a miracle”.

“I didn’t mean it that way actually. I know I’m young but I noticed how you look at him. I spoke about it with Mommy, but she refused to answer it.”

“She did good. You’re too young and I wouldn’t feel t ease to talk about… well. Let’s enjoy our bignè”

Hope nodded but then she asked again “But you’re upset with him, right ? You had a weird suppression when you came back, you’re hands were shaking and you banged the door. You usually act like that when you’re angry”

Klaus smiled, then he caressed her soft hair. He was proud that his daughter was so smart and observant, it meant that she was going to become a very wise young woman, but sometimes, like that, he would have preferred that she had been more… distracted. Or at least, he had to learn how to hide his feelings once again. He didn’t even notice to have nag the door when he came back, surely it didn’t have to be a pleasant scene for Hope and he would be careful not to do it again. At least not when he knew she was home.   
He looked at Hope and he knew she was expecting an explanation. He was going to make up an excuse when someone else arrived.

“Hello my lovely sunshine. Those bignès look delicious” said Rebekah hugging Hope from behind.

“Auntie Bekah, daddy was telling me when he ate his first bignè”

“Oh I remember it. Your daddy was so kind to buy me all the bignè I wanted. Few days missed for my birthday and daddy bought me other bignès and organized a fantastic ball for me.”

“Fantastic ! Will he organize a ball for my birthday too ?” asked Hope exited.

“If it what you desire, I will organize a splendid ball for your next birthday. Hey, it will be the first time we will spend that wonderful day together. I will organize a ball worthy of a Disney Princess”

“Can I invite Eri too ?”

“Who’s Eri ?” asked Bekah caressing Hope’s hair.

“She’s my friend, my fist friend actually. She’s cool. But daddy fought with her daddy”

“Typical. Klaus, can we talk for a second ?”

“Of course.” said Klaus rolling his eyes “Hey, my little wolf, don’t eat all the bignès, okay ?”

Hope nodded, while Klaus followed Rebekah into the living room. He could imagine about what she wanted to talk with him.   
When they arrived in the living room, Rebekah sat down on the couch and made sign to sit next to her. Klaus did.

“So, as usual you don’t waste time. Always fighting and getting in conflict with anyone…”

“Are you here to reprove me again ? If it’s so, I’m going away. I’m not in the mood to fight with you”

“Don’t be so grumpy. I was joking. I’m your sister and, even if we’re haven’t spent a lot of time together recently, I’m not ignoring the latest rumors about you. I heard Elijah talking about and handsome young man. Is him the father of Hope’s friend ?”

Rebekah was another girl in his life who read him like a open book. She could always tell when he lied, when he was angry, when he was plotting something, when he was hiding something…  
Their bound wasn’t strong as it used to be but that didn’t mean she couldn’t be the best person to talk about the new object of his interest with.

“He’s… I don’t know… I can’t understand him, Bekah. I have the strong sensation he’ se been hiding something from me since our first met but I can say he doesn’t have any intention of hurting me. He defended me actually. He put himself between me and Marcel while he was trying to attack me.”

“Brave, so he does really care about you. Why didn’t Marcel kill him ?”

‘Good question’, Klaus though. Marcel was the strongest vampire of the planet, he could have easily killed Stefan and got away with that because Klaus hadn’t had a weapon to kill him yet.   
It had passed a lot of time since their last fight, but his war against Marcel wasn’t over and Stefan had already defeated Marcel once and he was still alive.  
Why ? How ?

“Because Marcel wants to prove himself to be better than me. He attacked me but then Stefan provoked him. He dared Marcel to hurt us, to prove to be a monster like he said I am. At that point Marcel went away”

“So, he defended you, something that someone, a part your family, hadn’t done for a long time, and you’re upset with him ?”

“I’m upset with him because he lies to me. He is evasive about anything. I admit I like him and I kissed him yesterday and…”

Rebekah smiled and giggled like a teenage girl “Seriously ? How did it happen ?”

“I needed to spend some quality amount of time alone yesterday, far away from my new bloodline. Maybe it’s stupid but I wasn’t ready for another bloodline and I needed to stay away from them. So I looked for him, he was in Church and…”

“Church ?” asked Rebekah truly surprised.

“He’s a religious type. He always takes a rosary with him but he thinks I didn’t notice it.”

Klaus could clearly see that Rebekah thought he was joking. He couldn’t blame her, he had been the first who thought Stefan was joking when he told him he was used to go to Church.   
Klaus continued his story, he told his sister about the kiss, their first met, about their date and their fight. Rebekah listened all his story carefully, asking for more details, curious like a little child could be about her parents’ love story.   
Rebekah was glee. Her brother had suffered a lot for five years and now he deserved to be happy and loved and apparently that toddler really caught her brother’s interest. Apparently the toddler was an handsome young man, perfect by nature, with his own sins to cope with, so he wasn’t a saint. A good thing, so he wouldn’t have judged Klaus for his own past. And he was also a father, another good point, not only because Stefan’s daughter became Hope’s new best friend, but also because it was another thing in common between Klaus and Stefan. The only difference was that Stefan didn’t have any family that helped him to raise a daughter. Stefan was alone because his older brother abandoned him or at least that was what Stefan told to Klaus. Truth or lie, it was too early to say it.

“Can I meet him ?” asked Rebekah when Klaus finished to talk.

“Are you not planning to steal him away from me, are you ?” joked Klaus.

“I have to see him first, then we’ll see. You own me a lot of boyfriends”

“Yeah, I guess it would be fair” said Klaus kissing her on her cheek “But you’re better than me to understand when someone’s lying and you don’t have a teenage crush on him so if you meet him you’ll be able to tell me when he lies or not”

“It will be fun. When can I meet him ?”

…

Kol was sitting at the desk and he was continuing his research about Sinner Hunters in his mother’s Grimory but he wasn’t finding nothing interesting, specially about Henrik.   
He reveled his hypothesis about the resurrection of his youngest brother yesterday and, as he suspected, no one was happy about it. Not because they didn’t want Henry to come back to them, but because the idea that their mother had been willing to sell their brother to Devil as insurance for their eventually death was too much for them to accept.   
Deal old mommy was determinate to kill all of them more than they could expected. But then a question was legitimate… What was Henrik waiting for ? If the Sinner Hunter was him why had he waited all that time to kill them ?   
Why hadn’t him killed them centuries ago ? What truly happen to him ?   
Where was he hiding ? Was he furious with them ? For having given up on him a long time ago ?   
Kol sighed and he passed his hand between his messy hair. He looked like shit, he was perfectly aware of it and he couldn’t care less.  
Being or looking hot and handsome weren’t his priorities, not anymore, not while he was suffering for heartbroken.   
After Davina’s death… a part of him died with her, the most awful part of him. The arrogant little infant who thought and cared about nothing but sex, fun and blood was gone in the exactly moment when he decided to give his heart to Davina and he was definitely dead when he lost his heart forever after Davina’s death.  
So he didn’t have to look nice for anyone, he wasn’t willing to clean himself up for someone. If it depended on him, he would have left New Orleans for never return as soon as they had set Klaus free. But this time Marcel crossed the line. He bitted him, he, he killed Finn, almost killed all of them. He had kept them separated from Hope for five years…   
He didn’t care if Davina considered Marcel a father, they deserved to get their revenge.   
Kol was a Mikaelson in love, but a Mikaelson anyway and he would have his revenge, not matter what.   
Until that moment revenge was the only reason why he was still there, but now… what if his theory about Henry was true ?   
He needed help, he had to convince Freya to invoke their mother to ask her explanations. Maybe it would be a useless waste of time but at least he would be sure that Hernik had nothing to do with the recent murders.   
‘I have no time to lose.”

…

Lexi and Eri were having a lot of fun together doing shopping while Stefan, who was forcing himself to share at least a little of their enthusiasm, was accompanying them and carrying their envelopes.   
Lexi always worried about the kind of clothes Stefan bought to his musume. She doubted his tastes about female clothes.   
Stefan replied that he had excellent tastes, at least Eri never complied about her clothes.   
Well, Eri never complained about anything so…

“That red pattern dress really suits you, Eri. It’s a shame that you’re otōsan don’t buy you more dress”

“I bought her skirts, it’s enough. I don’t see the necessity to buy her dresses”

“Jealous grumpy. Don’t you think it’s too early to act like an overprotective otōsan ?” asked Lexi giving him a pat on a shoulder.

“Firstly, I’m not overprotective even if I think she’s growing up too fast and that I should stop to be a Sinner Hunter before her adolescence not to kill all her boyfriends in the way. Or whoever will gawk at her. Secondly, I’m sorry but I can’t control my jealously over my little kitsune.” said Stefan kissing Eri on her head.

“Watashi wa son'nani otōsan o aishi” (I love you so much, Dad”.

Lexi smiled at them and, for a moment, she was the one who felt jealous. She had always wanted to have someone to love and who loved her back. Someone to create a family with, someone to consider “home”. Someone to protect and who protected her.   
People thought that immortality gave you million opportunities to find someone to love, but it wasn’t true, not for a vampire anyway. Being a vampire meant to lose forever the possibility to create a family with someone, to have children to love with all yourself. Being a vampire meant being alone more time than not. It meant move town to town not be discovered or killed by an Hunter.   
And yet, after there hundred years of loneliness she still hoped to meet someone who would give his heart to her forever. Someone who would love her despite her nature. Someone who would accept her for who she was.  
Stefan grabbed her hand, then he kissed her on cheek. He didn’t tell her he could read her mind and he didn’t want to, not now. But he listened her thoughts and he couldn’t avoid to feel sad for her. Lexi was a wonderful woman, his salvation, his anchor, and he didn’t desire her to be happy one day. She deserved to be loved.

“Are you going to spill everything ? Remember that I know all kind of persuasion to make you talk” said Lexi.

“The Devil gave me another mission. I have two months to provide him another Hunter or my soul will burn in Hell forever” said Stefan trying not to make it look like a big deal.

“What ? Is it only for you ?”

“No. All the Sinner Hunters have to find someone to turn into another puppet for Cade. Apparently it used to be one of Sybil’s task but now that she isn’t an Huntress anymore. So now its a task of everyone”

“Damn it Why did he orderer this so sudden ?”

“Because he wants me to spend less time with Klaus in order to complete my current mission. He knows that he’s going to lose me and he can’t accept it. He can’t accept to let me go without having had me.”

“I still don’t understand why you’re so special to him. Henry told me that Cade considers you, him and all the Hunters as snakes but…”

“Not all the Hunters. Only me, Henry and Sybil. But I can’t say why we are so special to him. There’s something that we have in common with Cade himself but I can’t see what. Maybe our love for mass murdering”

“Yeah, I saw both you and Henry at work. It wasn’t something I would like to see again”

Lexi didn’t reprove Stefan to be a Ripper, she had never judged him or used his past against him to control or manipulate him. Actually, when she found out that Stefan was a Ripper the only thing that came in her mind was that she wanted to help him. She knew it would be difficult, a real challenge but she didn’t care. Something told her Stefan was worthy a try, that he could be saved and he didn’t disappoint her. He was a fighter, he was a good guy. He was a young vampire and it wasn’t unusual that younger vampires, without a proper guide. became dangerous.   
But Henry… He scared her, when he put all that people on fire. Henry had been a Sinner Hunter longer than Stefan, he allowed the darkness came inside his heart, he was a sadistic murder who couldn’t feel anything but pain, physical pain or he wouldn’t have insisted so much with her to hit him. Whatever happened to him, whatever Cade had done to him, it damaged him beyond repair.

“Do you know something about Henry ? I don’t know. Something about his past ? Something that could help me to feel better about my deal with him ?”

“I can’t say I do. After I met him, we remained in contact. He gave me his cell number through my dreams. Cade linked the minds of all Hunters one to another. We can’t see each other, but we can communicate though dreams and thoughts. So we talked a little. He told me that it was his mother who sold his soul to Cade”

“His mother ? Why ?”

“Sorry, Lexi. But I can’t say you more. He didn’t give me details and even if he’d done it, I would have considered it a secret. Sorry but he’s another Hunter and I…”

“You don’t want to lose his trust. I can understand it.”

“Otōsan, can you buy me an ice cream, please ?” asked Eri who came near them.

“Yes, of course. Let’s go”

Eri had listened anything carefully, but she wasn’t in the mood to talk about the new task Cade gave to her otōsan. She was angry, but she learnt to hide her feelings well, she had to. She didn’t want to ruin that day.   
But her brain was still thinking about a solution, an eventual sacrifice.   
She was a little girl, but she wasn’t young as she appeared and her kitsune nature took control over her sometimes. Kitsune didn’t care anything but their goal, they were willing to do even the most narrow things to win. Eri was no an exception. She would do anything for her otōsan. Anything.   
When she understood that her affection for the Hunter was more like the one of a daughter for her father than for a simple friend she swore to herself that she would never abandoned him.   
Kitsune are deceptive but with the ones they loved they were capable of giving them three times a normal love.   
‘I will protect you otōsan, until the end, I promise”.

…

“Pater noster, qui es in caelis, sanctificateur Nomen Tuum, advéniat Regnum Tuum, fiat volùntas Tua, sicut in cielo, et in terra…”

Tyallah Croft was praying alone in Westminster Cathedral. It wasn’t something she was supposed to do, not at the midnight but it wasn’t the first time that she entered in a Church when she couldn’t, when there was anyone else around her to see her misery. She wouldn’t have tolerated it.   
She had killed three young men by eating them alive almost an our ago and she could still feel the taste of her flesh and blood in her mouth, on her full lips. She hated it but she had to. It wasn’t only the monster inside her who craved for scratching, biting and ripping who pushed her to kill, but also the Devil, Cade.   
She had been a Sinner Huntress for five hundred years and when she sold her soul to Cade it looked a good idea.   
Her joy lasted only a couple of years before to understand what truly meant being a servant of Devil.   
The power, the money, the pretty things… weren’t worthy the pain as she used to believe.   
‘I was such a stupid girl…’ she thought.  
She was a young woman of Australian origin, with soft chocolate skin and long black hair. But with the darkness inside the Church it was impossible distinguish her skin by her dark clothes.   
She was wearing a black leather jacket, with black jeans and boots.   
It was easier hiding the blood this way.   
The fact was that she was still hungry, she was always hungry. That was her curse, a never ending hunger that needed to be satisfied by her victims.   
Cade let her eating all their body but the heart. The heart had to be burn by Hellfire, but the rest was for her teeth.  
She finished her prays and she went out from the cathedral.  
For the night the prays were over, sometimes Tyallah didn’t even know why she continued to pray, if she still believed in God or in the possibility to escape Hell. Maybe it was only a waste of time.

“At least God wouldn’t say that I forgot him” said thinking aloud.

“Pity that he forgot about you”

That voice made her frozen. She knew better than ignore the Devil, but she just didn’t expect a visit by him.

“What do I have the honor of this visit for ?” she asked trying to look confident.

She was a good liar, after all. She learn how to hide her feelings, but Cade was a psychic, he could read her mind, he could understand that all her confidence was nothing but an act.  
No one could deceive the Devil.

“I’ve a mission for you, my dear.”

“You’ve already given me another mission. What do you want from me again ?”

Suddenly a strong pain in her head made her scream and she put her hands at hair head.

“Be polite when you talk with me, my dear. Don’t forget that your soul is in my hands and the I can send your pretty face in Hell without any hesitation.”

“How could I forget ? The silver anklet I wear remember me about my condition every single day.”

“Good, then you’ll remember you own me respect.”

Tyallah looked at him with pure hatred but Cade smiled at her.   
She was nothing special to him, consumed by her hatred and her desire for revenge even before to be tempted by the flames of darkness.   
It could be said that she found a sort of redemption only after having become a murderer.   
She wasn’t a snake, she wasn’t one of his favorite, which meant she was expendable.   
Sometimes, to win a game, you needed to sacrifice a pawn to protect a surgeon. He was doing the same.  
He was willing to let Tyallah dying but not to lose Stefan forever because of a useless blond hybrid.

“I need you to go to New Orleans and kill someone I want badly dead.”

“Who do I have to kill ?”

It was useless trying to deny it. Cade wouldn’t accept refuse of any kind. Tyallah new it.   
She wasn’t even in the right position to negotiate.

“You see, there’s a Mikaelson whose presence is really disturbing me, this is why you have to leave London as soon as possible and go to New Orleans”

Tyallah nodded.   
She understood it was a trap, that there was something more in the game. She was smart even if the Devil treated her like a poor useless fool. Cade had always denied them the lives of the Original Family so what did happen to push the Devil to change the rules ? Where was the trap ? What was the new trick in the book ?   
Unfortunately, she was going to find out really soon.


	15. The birth of my monstrosity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sybil is ready to enter in action and she started in Mystic Falls. Cade threaded her to take her freedom away from her if she doesn't help him to have Stefan's soul and Sybil just can't let it happen.   
> Klaus and Stefan share another dream, this time, it's Stefan turn to reveal one of his darkest secret to Klaus. The young vampire will open up to the older one the door of his inner Hell.  
> At the same time Marcel will form a dangerous allegiance...

“Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum. Benedìcta tu in mulièribus, et benedica fructus ventris tui, Iesus…”

Sybil was praying in the Church in Mystic Falls. She arrived in the little place forgotten by God that afternoon and she wasted three hours of her precious time spying on Damon and his stupid human girlfriend.   
Okay, Cade didn’t order her to spy Damon and use him as bait, but that was the best plan she came up with for the moment. Using Damon as a puppet, convincing Stefan to come back to Mystical Falls, making him kill Damon and then giving up on Klaus to resurrect his stupid useless older brother. Plotting against someone wasn’t the right thing to do, not while you’re praying for your forgiveness and your salvation, but Sybil hadn’t playing for a long time due to her loss of faith.   
Now she was praying for the first time after a long time, even if she couldn’t say she had recuperated her faith in God.   
God abandoned her a long time ago and in return she stopped to worship him. He didn’t deserve her prays if he couldn’t safe her from Hell.   
She sighed, but she finished her prays. She had a mission to pursuit for her former husband. Such a bullshit, she didn’t even know why she wore again the silver ring Cade gave to her after their first night together, when Sybil gave him both soul and body to him and Cade gave it to her a sign of possession, not love. It was never love.  
Sybil wasn’t a fool, she knew that wasting an entire day following dumb Damon would have been a waste, so she spared a part of her time saying on his… friends ? As long as was possible that an ignorant cretin like Damon could have had friends. Probably his brother Stefan would have thought it a joke. She found it exhilarating herself. Anyway, it didn’t matter now.   
Sybil smiled cruelly when she arrived in front of the house where she knew that a former vampires Hunter and a young blond vampire lived with their two lovely brats. Sybil had nothing wrong with children, she raised Henry when he was still a child and she helped him to grow up as a fine young man. She was the wife of Devil, she took care of all the hunters before her that the devil himself broke her heart.   
“Henry… I miss you” she thought.   
He was the only thing that she missed of her live as Huntress. Trying not to cry like a little idiot, she went under the window of children’s bedroom and then she started to sing. She focused herself into her song, so that only the two children could listen it. Sybil needed Damon as bait but that dumb would never submitted himself to her without a proper encouragement and she couldn’t risk to waste more time.   
‘At least I hope that his stupid dumb human girl will persuade him to do the right thing for once’.  
She had to sing for thirty minutes before the two girls arrived in the yard, attracted by her voice.  
The two little girls looked at her with the emptiness reflected in their eyes, they stopped few steps away from her and Sybil spared a minute to look at them.   
One was blond the other a brunette, so typical. They seemed to have the same age after all. She wandered how could be possible that a vampire could get pregnant and have not one but two children. Well, she would find out, eventually, or not. She didn’t care. The human little girl inside of her, who desired to become a mother, felt any toward the blond vampire.  
Without any hesitation she grabbed the girls by their little hands.

“Come with Mommy, little girl. We’re going somewhere fun”

…

Stefan had been trying to sleep for two hour unsuccessfully. He had spent a tiring day with Eri and Lexi doing shopping, having fun, talking about dear old time, trying to avoid as much as possible to talk about Cade and everything about him.   
Stefan knew, he could feel, that his musume was frantic. She probably listened what she told to Lexi and now she was thinking about a solution already, as Lexi.  
He knew she had called Henry, when she thought he was distracted. The point was that Stefan was never distracted, even when he wanted to. But his powers didn’t let him to, especially his telepathy which he received only few weeks ago.   
He’ve read Lexi’s thoughts all day, he knew she was scared for him, that she had intention to call Henry and she did.   
They talked about the new task, Henry confirmed their suspicious about Cade’s real intentions. The Devil couldn’t care less about having a new Hunter, all he truly wanted was Stefan’s devotion.  
Stefan hated that situation.

_“Me too, my diabolical fellow”_

_“Henry ? How long… How are you ?”_

At least now he had company, even if he had to content of a simple voice. He was glad to talk to someone like him, another Hunter whose face wasn’t a mystery to him.   
Cade once told him that only an Hunter could understand another Hunter and he was right about it. Eri and Lexi were fantastic but they couldn’t completely understand how it feel being a servant of a Devil. That was the main reason why he tried to remain in contact with Henry. Knowing that he could talk with another Hunter made him feel less lonely sometime.

_“I’ve been better. But your friend is really nice. She punched me hard… fantastic…”_

_“Pervert. She asked me about you. I think she has a lilt interest for you.”_

_“Me too. But you didn’t tell anything about what I told you that day, did you ?”_

_“Only that your mother is responsible for your conditions. She was ready to judge you as a sadistic bastard and you didn’t deserve it. It’s not your fault”_

_“I’m not an innocent Stefan. But thank you. She told me that you’re going to be saved really soon”_

_“Yeah, I’m happy about it and I do hope to success. But Lexi’s right too”_

_“What do you mean ?”_

_“We have to kill Cade once and for all”_

It was one of the few things Stefan was completely sure about. The Devil had to be killed, one way or another. Stefan couldn’t start a new life with the constant thought that someone else could have passed what he went through himself because of Cade.  
The Devil was a liar, a living poison, the worst curse that could ever happen to someone. Cade who consumed you from inside, who marked your blood with his darkness and let it entered inside your heart. And also Stefan hated Cade with all his heart and he wanted revenge on him for everything that Cade took away from him.

_“Always the Prodigal Son ah ?”_

_“You know I’m right. I know you want revenge like me or you would have never made a deal with Lexi for helping me”_

_“You’re wrong. I don’t want revenge, I just want to be safe. I haven’t verb strong enough to resist to Devil and now… Killing Cade is my only chance to live a life on my own without Cade”._

_“Henry… It’s not your fault. You were a child when you became an Hunter. You wanted nothing more than to be loved. Who can blame this to you ?”_

_“Oh Stefan… If only I had met you before…”_

Stefan closed his eyes. He could feel the sadness, the melancholy and the embitters inside Henry’s voice. Their life was made of “if”, “should have” and “maybe”. They lived of regrets, wrong choices and anger. They died and came back, they were immortal, perfect weapons… But they were unhappy. And nevertheless their sadness was the most human things they left.

“ _I know you don’t want to… but you know my soulmate”_

_“Do I ? I guess you’re going to tell me his name anyway”_

_“I own you. I must tell you the truth”_

_“Why ?”_

_“Because it’s your brother, Klaus”._

Then there was nothing more than the silence and darkness for that night.

…

_Klaus had no idea where he was. He only knew that he was wandering between dead corps, part of them were burning, another were decomposing under his eyes, another turning into ashes._   
_It seemed a macabre scenario worthy of an horror movie. It was dark all around. There were flats, building, and houses but they all looked dilapidated, with broken window, crashed door and some of them were also on fire._   
_Sometimes he had the impression to have heard someone screaming and crying but around him there was no one. He was alone._   
_He walked next to a wall where the was a red written on._

_**“I swear on the soul that I gave to flames** _   
_**I will be your loyal servant** _   
_**Always demon, won’t go to heaven** _   
_**I’m the beast to fear, only Devil tames** _   
_**Hold tight your soul… because it will be mine** _   
_**Cruelty, pain, sadness, sins and damnation** _   
_**they will be my eternal goal** _   
_**And Hell my only home…”** _

_‘Fascinating’, Klaus thought not be able to find it creepy. It looked like a sort of prayer or an oath. It didn’t make it look less creepy. It made Klaus’ body shiver a little._

_“If only I know where I am”_

_That day had been terrible. First the encounter with Marcel, then the fight with Stefan, then Rebekah who insisted on meeting the guy until he gave up, but he convinced her to meet Stefan another day. Now that he was thinking about it, he didn’t event ell her his name. He completely forgot it._   
_That day he didn’t want to talk or see Stefan. He needed time to understand what he was going to say to him. He was still trying to understand what happened that morning with Marcel, how could it be possible that he could compel Marcel._   
_Had been less proud, Klaus would have admitted that he was scared of Stefan, of what he showed to be able to do, of his compulsion, of all the untold words._   
_And he envied him too. He missed having power, he missed the control he had over people around him. He missed the day when Klaus was a name which meant threat, a name that used to make other’s trembling, when he was the lord of nightmare of his enemies._   
_Klaus, a name, a legend, a King. Who was him now ?_   
_A leftover of a monster who had nothing worthy to live for. And nevertheless he missed that man sometimes. Well, he guessed that regrets could wait for another time._   
_He was walking for what it seemed an eternity before he heard a groan._   
_Someone was crying, someone who was closer to him._

_“Hello ? I can hear you so stop hiding !!” he ordered with loud voice._

_“I’m… I’m here…”_

_Klaus’ heart lost a beat. Even if it was a deep, weak whisper, he could perfect recognize that voice. It was the voice who tormented him all day. A voice who defended him that afternoon, who begged him to believe in his words, in his lies actually._   
_Klaus’ heart lost another beat when he saw him._   
_Stefan was coming toward him, he was dressed completely in black and he had blood all over his mouth and probably his clothes too._

_“Klaus… It seems it’s my turn tonight…”_

_Stefan had tears in his eyes, the guilty impossible to hide. But there wasn’t only guilty, his eyes are sad, scared, as the Devil himself was behind him._

_“Where are we Stefan ?” asked Klaus trying to look confident and calm as always._

_“It’s my mind, Klaus. Our dream or whatever it is, is showing to you my personal list of sins. Do you see the people around us ?”_

_Klaus nodded, so Stefan continued “They are all my victims. I dream them almost every night. I remember their face, their eyes when they looked at me, begged me to spare them.”_

_“This is masochism.” commented Klaus almost reproaching him._

_Stefan shrugged “In the real life, I have a list with all he names of the victims on it. For me its important remember them. Did you remember what I told you about Monterey this morning ?”_

_Klaus nodded again. How could he forget about it ? What Stefan told to him and Marcel about Monterey. It was another thing he had brood all day. Klaus had heard a lot of stories and rumors about the infamous Ripper of Monterey, the cruelest and the strongest Ripper of all. The only one who was known among all the other vampires even if under a nickname._   
_His ideanti had been unknown to the most, but now Klaus knew his name and face too._   
_The hybrid had wanted to know him for a long time, since he heard about him the first time. He was the number one fan of the rippers._

_“I was a Ripper, before to meet Eri. I was a young vampire and without a proper help, I let the bloodlust took control over me. A dear friend of mine helped me to become a better man but… It wasn’t enough. It will never be”_

_“What do you mean ?”_

_“I meant that it was never blood, Klaus. I mean that I’m a Ripper, I mean that I like, no I love, no I need to kill people to make feel myself alive. I killed my father because I was furious with him, my lust was only a poor excuse.”_

_“Why are you talking like that ? Stefan no one kills only because if found it fun. There’s always a reason. Mine used to be power. You killed all the people around here only because no one had had the decency of helping you when you needed someone !”_

_Loneliness could terribly affect a young vampire during the first period. It was like living again the adolescence, when you looked at the mirror and you could barely recognize yourself or your body, it scared. Klaus had been scared the first time his fangs got out from his mouth, reclaimed something he thought he would have never desired._   
_Blood used to disgust him when he was human. It remembered him the fists and wounds his father inflicted to him during his punishments._   
_Again, he and his siblings were together. They tried to live together with their new nature together. Apparently Stefan had no one._   
_And now Klaus had the sensation to see Stefan for who he really was, a lonely young man, who had being carried his faults and his pain on his shoulder alone. A young man who lied because he learnt not to trust anyone._   
_Stefan was alone as Klaus himself used to be, but while Klaus tried to gain more and more power to be respected, feared and maybe even love by people… Stefan avoided people at all not to have any kind of delusions of love and affection._   
_Klaus chose fame, Stefan the loneliness._   
_Klaus chose power, Stefan the simplicity of a life without constants._

_“I’m sorry for you, toddler”_

_Stefan bursted to laugh hysterically “I showed you the Hell I caused and you are sorry for me ? Klaus… It’s all my fault… and you the worst part ? I’m dragging my musume in Hell with me. I’m a terrible father”_

_“You’re not. You had an abusive father, I did too. Our father physically or verbally abused her or both. They were terrible father, not you. You don’t have to torture yourself like that !”_

_Stefan didn’t say anything. Klaus couldn’t understand and he couldn’t blame him. The younger vampire knew that Klaus problem read the written on the wall but surely he didn’t understand the true meaning of it._   
_Maybe one step at time… and he would understand… maybe even forgive him eventually._

_“I want to show you something. Come with me” said Stefan taking his hand._

_“What ?”_

_“The birth of my own monstrosity”_

…

Mercel was dizzy. He had been drinking and brooding all day about what he should do with Klaus, with Mikaelson in general, about the toddler’s words, about everything.   
He hadn’t even figure out how to tell Alistair that he pushed Klaus to create a new bloodline yet. Maybe the blond vampire already knew it. He reveled to have spies in New Orleans, and for Marcel could gather, those spies weren’t necessarily vampires, Alistair was smarter than this.  
He knew that if he told to Marcel that he had spies in New Orleans, the first thing that the Beast would have done was looking for them between his vampires.   
The most logic thing the blond vampire could have done was compelling some at random, humans, to be more specific, to be his spies and Marcel couldn’t kill the entire New Orleans only to be sure of this theory.

“Damn it !” he shouted breaking the glass his was keeping between his fingers.

He was beginning to be tired of theories, he wanted more answers, possible true.  
One could be… a coincidence ? An illusion ? A trick ?   
But twice ?   
That little meddler dared to compel him twice, and the most hateful things was that he succeeded, both the times. How could it be possible ?   
Marcel was supposed to be the most dangerous and powerful vampire, immune by anyone’s compulsion. Even Klaus wasn’t strong enough to compel him anymore, so what was the little secret of that toddler ?

_‘Does it matter ? Think about your revenge on him instead’_

_‘_ That voice again…’, Marcel thought. No, it was different. It was more adult, deeper, the other voice instead was acute, probable it belonged to a child.   
Whoever was talking to him, a young woman, was stronger, her voice had more power over him.   
He noticed it because he developed a desire for revenge as soon as the ‘revenge’ word had been pronounced.  
Without any further hesitations he grabbed his cell and called Alistair.   
He waited few seconds before the other answered.

_“Hello ? I was feared that you changed your mind. Why are you calling me ?”_

Marcel closed his eyes. He could get from the other’s tone that Alistair was annoyed. If the blond didn’t know what happened last night, surely he hadn’t appreciate the outcome.

“You know what happened, don’t you?”

_“Of course I do. I warned you about my spies in New Orleans. Care to explain why it was so important to you that Klaus recreate his bloodline ?”_

“You told me you want a proof of my loyalty, I gave you one. Klaus didn’t have any intention of create a bloodline, I obliged him to turn someone into a vampires to provoke a brake between him and his family. His siblings thought he had changed, now they won’t do it anymore”

_“According to my spies, this is not what happen. They told me that Klaus is helping his beloved new bloodline to fight you. Don’t you dare to lie to me, Marcel. I would be only a waste of time from you”_

Marcel groaned. Suddenly the idea of burning down the entire New Orleans only to be sure to be ride of all Alistair’s spies was suddenly more appealing.   
He should have known better than trying to lie to Alistair. Marcel was stronger than him, but Alistair had more experience, he was wiser, more shrewd, he could easily manipulate Marcel by taking advantage of his youth as vampire.  
Alistairs’ laugh snapped him from his thoughts.

_“I’ve also learnt that there is… a certain toddler that managed to compel you. And it appears that Klaus felt a strong affection toward this young guy…”_

“He’s a father. I won’t hurt him or his daughter. I’m not going to change my mind.”

Marcel knew that Alistair was a cruel guy, but he wouldn’t have hurt a father with his daughter as Klaus did to him. Marcel knew that the reason why Alistair hated Klaus so much was that Klaus made him killed his wife and daughter and that they hybrid would have never received his forgiveness for this. Because of this, Alistair wouldn’t ever kill an innocent, specially a father, and his daughter.

_“Fine. Don’t touch him. You know what ? I don’t care. You proved to be useless for my plans of vendetta against Klaus. You’re too weak and I’ve been putting up with you for far too long”_

“No, I told you that I have a plan. I can still…”

The silence that followed was painful as a slap right in the face. Alistair had closed the call and their allegiance with it.   
Marcel lost the last of ally.

_“No… Don be like that. You still have me”_

The voice in his head, that sweet voice was like a soft caress on his cheek.   
Marcel was relief that someone could still consolate him, especially in that moment, when he felt like he had lost everything.   
He lost his last ally, he lost the possibility to win his war against Klaus once and for all, he probably lost his mind too.  
Funny how the strongest creature in the world, was the harmless too after too bad moves. The truth was that Marcel had played bad his cards since the started. But he couldn’t give up, he owned that to Davina, Camille and all the people he loved and who died because of Klaus.   
Klaus didn’t get to win, he didn’t deserve it. He couldn’t win again. Marcel would be damn if he didn’t send Klaus’ ass in Hell once and for all.

  
_“Oh… but is not too late, my dear. You cannot let Klaus win. You have to defeat him. Kill him. Or die trying. Make your last move”_

‘My last move ? I don’t even know what was my first.’ Marcel thought.

_“Your blood is the answer. With the help of my master, I will provide you a weapon capable of killing all the Original Vampires. The enchanted thorn.”_

“Can you promise me ?” asked Marcel at the voice.

“ _I swear to you”_

That promise was like a soft kiss on the lips. Marcel didn’t have any idea of how could have been dangerous a deal with Devil, but he would find out really soon.  
For the moment, he let his blood spill on the pavement. An open wound for a soldier who hadn’t realized yet to have already lost the war.

…

_Klaus had a lot of doubts about considering a great idea following Stefan through that it looked as the set of an horror movie._   
_What disturbed him most was that Stefan seemed to know pretty clear where he was going, perfectly in control of himself and of the world around him. As he could chose what showing or not showing to Klaus, something that the hybrid couldn’t do in his dream, or he would have never showed to Stefan the truth about his father._   
_Stefan told him that he knew that place because he currently dreamed it. Well, if it was true, the toddler had creepy dreams._

_“Is still a lot missing ?” asked Klaus annoyed._

_Stefan didn’t answer, actually the young vampire didn’t even listen him._   
_Stefan was still considering and evaluating all his possibilities. He didn’t know if he was doing the right thing, if Klaus was ready to meet him. The monster Stefan was hiding inside his heart, inside the Hell. God, he wasn’t sure to be ready himself._   
_He said the truth when he told that he dreamed that place currently. An empty and destroyed world for a broken king who knew nothing else but loneliness and violence._   
_An ideal place inside his subconscious where he could put inside a cage the beast inside his heart. In that place there were his darkest secrets, it was a subconscious list of his victims and sins. There was the darkest part of his life and if Klaus decided to wander around on his own he would have learnt a lot of things about him and still Stefan wasn’t concerned._   
_But he was genuinely curious to know what Klaus thought about that place._

_“So… do you like my subconscious ?” asked Stefan smug._

_“Over dramatic and insane. As you are. I’m not surprise anymore that you’re depressed’ said Klaus harshly._

_Good, Klaus was in a bad mood. Totally understandable. Stefan smiled, his mood wasn’t going to improve anyway._

_“Are you still mad at me ? For what happen with Marcel ?” asked Stefan._

_Silence was becoming suffocating for him. He hoped to conversate with the other, just to make the entire situation more enjoyable. Even if Klaus started to scream or shout at him would have been better than the silence._   
_It could be useful not to make Stefan think about what he was doing._

_“Answering to you would be redundant at this point. Why don’t you start to tell me the truth for once ? Why don’t you trust me ? It’s because of my past ?”_

_“Klaus, I can swear on my musume that I don’t keep secrets from you because of your past. It’s because of my past.”_

_“Listen me up, I know better than anyone that hundreds years of solitude make people diffident toward anyone, but I’m here now. I’m offering you my affection, why can’t you do the same ?”_

_“I’m trying, or I would have left you when I found you instead leading you toward the darkest and deepest secret of my life”_

_“Is it so difficult for you telling me why your compulsion is so strong ?”_

_“Seriously Klaus ? I don’t know. I’ve always been capable of manipulating older vampire. Marcel wasn’t the first and surely won’t be the last”_

_“Marcel is not an ordinary vampire. How can you explain it ?”_

_“I can’t”_

_“Or you don’t want ?”_

_“Does it matter now ?”_

_“You were the first to ask if I was still mad at you !!”_

_Stefan rolled his eyes, regretting for a moment not to have remained silent. It would have been better probably. Klaus seemed to always know when he was lying, something that was quite unusual. Or maybe Stefan had the wrong habit to get himself too much credit for his ability to lie. Well, it was irrilevante at the moment._   
_After few minutes, they arrived in front of a little house, the littlest and most ruined of all. There wasn’t even a door, but a hole to enter. Stefan entered first, Klaus followed him silently, then he was that there was an old style lift. Stefan opened the door then he went inside._

_“Come, if you’re still curious and if you really are determinate to know me”_

_“What if I don’t ?”_

_“Nothing. I will let you go. You’re not a prisoner and you’re free to do whatever please you”_

_Klaus didn’t say anything else. Whatever Stefan wanted to show him, even the most insignificant useless thing, he would be damn of he wasted that occasion. Klaus knew that if he went away he would regret in the future._   
_So, without any further hesitations, he stepped inside the lift. Then Stefan lowered the lever and the lift started to go down._   
_The hybrid knew that nothing of that situation was real, that it was only a dream like the other, but a part of him was afraid that Stefan could have something in mind to hurt him._   
_Stefan told that he was the one to create that reality, that it was part of his subconscious, so he knew that place better than the hybrid, which put Klaus clearly un a disadvantage. So, keeping in mind that all of that wasn’t real, was the only thing that helped him not to lose his mind. He looked at Stefan and he noticed that the toddler was more tense than he was._   
_It was clear that Stefan wasn’t enthusiastic about the situation either._   
_Klaus could say he understood him. In the other dream, when he found out that Stefan saw all his interactions with his father, he felt violated somehow. Your turbulent past wasn’t something you’re willing to share to someone you had a crush on and who you were still trying to conquer. But Stefan surprised him, he saw everything without judging him, without pity in his eyes only understanding._   
_Klaus couldn’t avoid to ask to himself if Stefan was doing this only to return the favor, to make Klaus stop complain about his trust issues or if he truly believed that Klaus could understand and accept him as Stefan did before._   
_The lift stooped, then Stefan opened the door and went out. Klaus had only time to make few steps ahead that a voice talked to him._

_“You took a guest tonight. What honor. Who is your friend ?”_

_That was… Stefan’s voice, but it was different at the same time. That voice sounded crueler, colder, aggressive._

_“Who’s talking ?” asked Klaus whispering._

_“Oh come one, don’t be afraid. Aren’t you scared of the bad wolf, are you ?”_

_Then Klaus noticed that at the center of the room there was a cage with narrow bars. Inside the cage there was a man, with his hands and forehead resting on the bars who was looking at him with malicious and cruel eyes and an evil smirk on his face._   
_He had a mad look on the face who made him appear uglier than he really was._   
_The veins mourn his eyes and along his cheeks were so red that appeared that he was crying blood._   
_The most surprising thing was that he knew that man._

_“Stefan ?” he said._

_“Not Stefan. Don’t even dare to confuse me with that boring waste of space. I’m the Ripper, the Ripper of Monterey. Nice to meet ya” he said with a smirk._

_“I told you that I had a great surprise for you” said Stefan “Let me introduce you to the monster inside me”_

…

Henry had just finished his fourth glass of bourbon. He could got drunk, he wasn’t a vampire, and he was glad not to be. In that moment the only thing he needed was to lose his mind for few hours.  
How could it happen ?  
His older brother was the soul to save of the only friend he could say he had after a long time. And Henry couldn’t be happy for this because he was afraid of what Cade could do to Klaus.   
He hadn’t seen his siblings for a long time but that didn’t mean he wanted them to burn in Hell only for a Cade’s whim.   
Okay, he was sincere. He had been sold to Cade only because his mother wanted an insurance that someone, in case of his father’s failure, would have fixed the problem she created by turning her children into monsters.   
Unlucky wanted that Cade wanted the vampires to exist because they took with themselves death, caos and violence whenever they wanted, so Cade didn’t respect the deal with his mother but he took Henry as son, hunter and lover.   
His mother had been screwed up by the Devil and Henry was glad for this.   
If Cade decided to kill his siblings his mother would have got what she wanted, and Henry couldn’t let that happen. He wanted his mother to regret every single day what she had done to him and to his siblings. He wanted her to look at the horror her children caused every single day.  
He wanted her to know that the monster she gave birth was furious with her and determinate to make her suffer.   
It wasn’t a coincidence that Henry took the distance from his family a long time ago, without looking for any one of them, ever, not even once.   
The only reason was that he avoided the temptation to kill his siblings for having forgotten him. Cade had been clear, not killing the Originals, Henry obeyed, but sometime the anger was too strong and when he found out that his mother was come back alive he almost begged Cade to kill her.   
The Devil denied it to him. That was the first crack in their allegiance. But now he was sure that Cade was planning something against his family and Henry would sabotage him.   
The night was still long enough, he had time to find out what was happening.  
He laid down on his bed, closed his said and used the astral projection to go where Stefan was… New Orleans.

“Interesting…” he thought with a cruel smirk. 


	16. I can see your sins...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stefan let Klaus meet the Ripper of Monterey but the encounter doesn't go as he has planned. The Ripper is capable of doing something that Stefan can't and he's using this to take advantage over him and Klaus.  
> During the same night, Eri found out that another kitsune is in New Orleans and that her presence is not a coincidence.  
> Cade's plotting something terrible against the Former King of Vampire and Stefan, Eri, Lexi and Henry will have to collaborate to defeat him once and for all.

Eri woke up suddenly. She was sleeping when she suddenly felt the presence of another kitsune, more powerful and surely older than her and now she didn’t know what to do.   
Maybe she should have woken Stefan up, or maybe not. Kitsunes worked for Devil, and Eri could feel that this kitsune had bad intentions toward the other. Maybe Cade himself sent her there to control her father or to kill his soul to save.   
Eri wasn’t a big fan of Klaus but if he died her otōsan would have burned in hell forever and Eri couldn’t let that happen.  
Without any further hesitations, she stood up, she wore a pair of jeans, her favorite pair of boots and a coat. She didn’t even change her pajama shirt, she had not time. Trying not to wake up Lexi, she got up from the apartment.  
A kitsune wasn’t difficult to find for another kitsune. Their Kyuubi could easily felt the presence of another ones, so Eri had just go where her Kyuubi leaded her.   
New Orleans was sleeping, there were only vampires walking and hunting through the streets.   
The discos were open, the bustle and the voices could be heard and somehow they comforted Eri, it made her feel less alone.   
Even if she was a supernatural creature, wandering alone during the night wasn’t safe for her.   
She began counting odd numbers, just to have something to do, something to calm all her nerves.

“One, three, five, seven,…”

She counted until fifty one before she found the other kitsune.   
She looked like a young woman, with silver hair, almond black eyes. She was wearing a short sleeveless dress with floral fantasy, typical of the Japanese style. Her silver hair were picked up in a Japanese hairstyle, with flowers in her her, which emphasized her eastern features, making her look more beautiful and young than she was supposed to be.

“Konbanwa, wakai kitsune. Watashi wa matte imashita” said her looking at Eri with coldness (Good evening, young fox. I was waiting for you)

“Anatahadare? Anata wa nani o shitaidesu ka?” asked Eri with the same coldness (Who are you ? What do you want ?)

“My name is Jun. Do you want it mean in our language ?” asked Jun looking her nails.

“Obedient. I’m young but not so young. I perfectly know my language. The question is, obedient to who ?”

“Kitsunes work for demons and devils and we play for the same team.”

“So it was Cade who sent you here. Lovely. Why are you here ?”

Eri didn’t like that situation, at all. If Cade sent a kitsune in New Orleans it meant that he was plotting something big and dangerous against Stefan, or worse, Klaus.   
Only now Eri noticed where she was. She was in front of Marcel’s house.   
‘Fuck…’ she thought. She looked at Jun and she realized who was the victim of the kitsune.   
Why Marcel ? Why so sudden ? What was the final picture of Cade ? Did he want use Marcel to kill Klaus ?   
Surely Marcel didn’t need Cade to fulfill that purpose. He was the strongest creature of the planet, his had an army and one of his bite could be fatal even for an Original vampire.  
No, there had to be something else that made Marcel important to Cade.

“You’re here to manipulate Marcel.”

“To use him, actually. He may is the Beast, but he has a lot of weakness, one of them has been increased by you recently. He can be used and he can be killed.”

“Used for what ? What does Marcel have to make him so special for Cade ?”

“Do you really think I’m so stupid to answer that question ?”

“It was you who said we were on the same team”

“Yes, enough not to kill you, not enough to trust you since your father’s loyalty is beginning to be a bit too questionable”.

Jun came closer to Eri, but Eri didn’t step back, he remained where she was, showing to the older woman that she couldn’t intimidate her.  
Jun smiled. Usually a kitsune who grew up alone, without other kitsunes, had little chances to survive or become strong as it supposed to be, but that little girl… She had a great power inside her, Jun could feel it. And she was brave enough to look for her all alone during the night, so she was going to be a strong woman too.   
Nevertheless one advice was necessary.

“Let me something to you, little kitsune. Chose you battles carefully. Your devotion to your father is admirable, but Cade is the one who will win the war and if your father has some self preservation, he will give Cade what he wants soon, before it’s too late”

“My otōsan won’t fail. He made a promise to me and I trust him with all my heart. He won’t fail, he won’t”

“Kōun soshite, anata wa sore o suru hitsuyō ga arimasu.” (Good luck then, you will need it.).

Then Jun went away without that Eri could answer her back.  
Eri rolled her eyes. Spending more time speaking with Jun would have been a waste of her time. Kitsunes were deceptive, a kitsune could easily fool another one and even if Eri had a lot of question to make, she highly doubted that Jun would have given her answers or that she would have told her the truth.   
You could never know with a kitsune.   
At least she couldn’t say that the all the walk and the talk had been useless. Eri learnt that Cade had a plane that involved Marcel, now she had only to find out why.   
Eri didn’t know a lot of the Beast spell, but she was convinced that it was the key to understand more. She should have better asked something more to Hope or someone else of the Mikaelson.   
‘Maybe I should pay a little visit before to come back home’ she thought.  
She was out there already and she had nothing else more important to do anyway.   
In the silent night, she started to count odd number again.

…

_“So, this little scruffy thing is the former King of vampires ? You were wrong, my good self, he looks even older than he may really is”_

_Then the Ripper bursted out, clapping the hands against the bars. Stefan rolled his eyes, looking at the Ripper with disgust in his eyes, but he remained silent. The Ripper looked at him, challenging him with his cruel gaze, daring him to open the bars, to show to Klaus how cruel he could be._   
_Stefan didn’t dare to look at him for more than a mere minute._

_“And you’re the Ripper of Monterey whose I’ve been hiring so much about. My, people were right when they told me he has funny hair. They didn’t warn me about his dumb face”_

_Stefan smiled, almost laughing. The veins on Ripper’s face got redder, longer, almost until the chin. The more his anger increased, the uglier his became, less human too. He looked at Klaus with a predatory gaze, as if he was ready to rip him apart, piece after piece._   
_For Stefan’s surprise, Klaus was more amused than irritated by Ripper’s behavior._

_“Oh love, You could make me fall in love with you looking me like that” said Klaus resting his forehead on the bars._

_“Love ? Really ? I bet you call everyone in that way. Does my good self like it ?” asked the Ripper licking his bottom lip._

_“Your good self said something like that once.”_

_“So predictable, isn’t him ?”_

_“And nevertheless free to do what he wants. You, on the other hand, are in this cage, like the animal you are”_

_The ripper smirked again. Stefan could easily understand what he was thinking about._   
_The Ripper was studying Klaus, observing him like it was a piece of art, trying to figure out all his weaknesses, all his secrets, his soft spots… where he could hit him harder._   
_If Stefan felt… affection for Klaus, the Ripper could feel admiration at the most, but anything else. But for now, the only thing the Ripper wanted from Klaus was his pain. He wanted to see the great Original Hybrid on his knees, in tears, screaming at him full of anger._   
_Stefan smiled. Klaus perfectly understood his game._

_“It’s only temporary. My good self won’t be in charge forever. He wants to be good, but he likes killing more. When he will understand that he won’t keep me here forever, I will rip apart the entire New Orleans, as I did in Monterey, when he let me be in charge for the last ime.”_

_“Do you think that you will get out of here ah ? Love, I won’t let that happen. Not until he will be with me”_

_“Yeah, he’ was always content with little. Understandable after all of those years of loneliness. He fell for the first fool with a cool face. I could understand him when you were powerful and feared by anyone but now ? What are you ?”_

_“Free. you piece of scum. So coward to mock at me behind those bars.”_

_“Then you have to ask to my good self to set me free. Ask it to him. Come one, so we can play together.”_

_“You know, maybe seven years ago I wouldn’t know how to resist at the temptation of a man like you. I used to be cruel the half of you… Having you in my arms would have been like holding tight the heaven.”_

_“Careful, the demons don’t go heaven”_

_“We would have been perfect for each other.”_

_Stefan didn’t have any doubts about it. Klaus and the Ripper of Monterey would have been a perfect couple of power. Klaus the brain, the Ripper the strongest and finest weapon in his hand_   
_The Ripper was too wise and smart to let a man like Klaus slipping through his fingers. A king like him would have been the only master whose had the Ripper on his knees in front of him._   
_Stefan felt almost jealous for this and the Ripper knew it. They were two parts of the same person after all. Two face of the same coin._

_“Oh… My good self is jealous. He considers me a threat. It’s a pity that he can’t understand ah ?”_

_“Understand what ?”_

_“He enjoys killing as I do. The truth reason why we devote our heart to God is because we hope to be forgiven for our nature. Stefan’s always been so religious you know ? He had a voice in his head who repeats him to be good, to be gentle… not to lose faith.”_

_“So has he always been crazy ?” asked Klaus joking._

_“No, he’s always been me. Believe it or not, but he’s always had to commit himself to be a good boy. He hide his anger, he faked his smiles, he forced to laugh, he nodded when he didn’t agree, he cried when he wanted to laugh. And when he killed his father he was thirsty, but the blood wasn’t his ultimate goal. Not even revenge on his father”_

_“And then what ?” asked Klaus curious and fascinated._

_“Homicide. The great temptation of a man like me is not blood, but the fear of my victims, the sound of their screams, the sensation of power they gave to me. Do you know… what I want to do with all my putrefied heart ?”_

_“No, what ?” asked Klaus almost hypnotized._

_Stefan closed his eyes. He knew what he was coming. He knew Ripper’s intentions and surprisingly, he wasn’t afraid and he didn’t want to stop him._

_“When my good self will finally abandon himself to the darkness, the first thing I want to do is killing my brother Damon. The one who damn my soul to burn in Hell forever.”_

_“Damon ? Damon Salvatore ?”_

_‘He blamed Damon when he found out that our mother planned to escape…’_

_Stefan told that name before, in that last dream but Klaus didn’t notice it, more focus on the story, on what was happening, if the dream was real or not. Now he felt like a fool._   
_Stefan was… the little brother of that piece of shit of Damon…_   
_How couldn’t he notice before ? Salvatore wasn’t a common name, he should have payed more attention. Damon and Stefan were completely different; Damon had black hair and blue eyes, Stefan was a brunette with green forest eyes. Damon was all confident, arrogant, sarcastic, and insufferable, totally incapable of hiding his feelings or controlling his rage. Stefan instead was calm and compose, he thought before acting and he was unpredictable._   
_According to Klaus, the only thing that those two had in common was the last name._

_“He knew him… Fantastic !! Tell me, is he dead ?” asked the Ripper suddenly cheerful._

_“We are NOT going to talk about Damon !!” said Stefan raising his voice for the first time._

_“We hit a soft spot here. How did you know Damon ?”_

_“I killed his girlfriend.”_

_“Did he have a girlfriend ? Interesting” said the Ripper with irony “Did he suffer ?” asked then with a mischievous smile._

_“I SAID WE ARE NOT GOING TO TALK ABOUT HIM !!”_

_Klaus looked at Stefan, surprised that he was overreacting that way. Apparently the Ripper was right, Damon was a soft spot for Stefan, softer than it should have been._   
_The toddler had the vein around his eyes and the fangs out. This was not going to end well. If that place was real inside Stefan’s head, he could decide when to stop it and make it disappear, whiteout giving Klaus the possibility to find out more about him._   
_It wasn’t important after all. Damon was in Mystic Falls, Klaus had only called him for explanations about their relationship and their past. Maybe it wasn’t the right thing to do, but he had to know._

_“If you ever be free again, I swear, I will drain you as I did with her”_

_“Oh, I don’t think so. We can say that I’ve been kissed by Devil so I can never die. You, on the other hand, are an useless life, easy to kill if you manage to find the appropriate weapon. In my case, your heart. Stefan’s has your heart in his hands, hasn’t he ?”_

_“He won’t let you hurt me”_

_“He will, trust me. The first love isn’t the ones to last. And if you die, he has someone else already to have fun with. Isn’t him the reason why you’re here in New Orleans ?” asked the Ripper to Stefan._

_‘I have to change my plans because of him again. But nothing serious.’ Stefan thought._   
_The Ripper smiled, knowing his thought, knowing his lies._

_“Why are you trying so hard to create conflict between us with your dirty lies ?” asked Stefan._

_“Him ? Him who ?” asked Klaus suddenly curious and anger at the Ripper._

_Maybe he shouldn’t have trusted of the word of a crazy psychopath murder but until now the Ripper provided him more informations than Stefan himself._   
_Stefan who hide the truth behind a lot of empty words and half truth. Who gave him piece of puzzle pretending to give him the entire picture instead. The Ripper had bad intentions, that was undeniable, but for now he was his only source of informations._

_“Did he tell you is the gentle creature who had given him that beautiful silver bracelet around his wrist ?”_

_Stefan closed his eyes. He didn’t predict that dick move from that jarhead. The worst thing was that he was insulting himself and himself was the only one whom he could blame for that situation._   
_That was exactly why he hated having something to do with the Ripper._   
_Klaus didn’t say anything, he just turned around and came closer to Stefan. He grabbed his wrist and lifted the sleeve of his jumper, reveling the bracelet._   
_Klaus had to admit it was really beautiful, simple and elegant at the same time. There were some engravings on it but he couldn’t understand what they meant._

_“Nice bracelet” comment Klaus with bitterness and disappointment._

_“Klaus, you’re misunderstanding”_

_“I told you. Everyone is replaceable. And it’s naturally that people have secrets and that Stefan lies to hide them. That’s what people do.”_

_“There’s no one else, Klaus. This bracelet used to belong to my father. I took it after his murder and I wear it every single day to remind me what I’ve done. Not to forget, ever, my biggest sin”_

_“Oh come, why can’t be someone else over here that has been chasing you for a long time ? Klaus wouldn’t be disdain. Didn’t he tell you that he killed the entire Katherine’s family and then he had chased her for over five hundred years ?”_

_Both Klaus and Stefan looked at the Ripper with wide eyes._   
_‘You didn’t expect this either ah ? My good self ?’, that was what the Ripper was saying to Stefan with his cruel eyes. For the first time, since the dream began, he was truly scared._   
_Stefan didn’t know about that, Klaus had never told him anything about his past with Katherine. How could the Ripper know it ?_

_“It seems I’m not the only one who owns some explanations. I guess you two haven’t talk about the Klaus used to be cursed and he needed to kill a doppelgänger Petrova for it. Destiny chose that the doppelgänger he killed was the one who Damon fell in love with”_

_“Katherine ?” asked Stefan._

_It was the only name he knew._

_“Elena. But we’ve never met her”._

_“And then how could you know about all of this ?” asked Klaus losing all his temper._

_The ripper bursted to laugh again, an horrible sound which echoed through the room._   
_Only now Stefan noticed he was shivering, firing with all his heart what the Ripper was planning to do and how he knew about Klaus’ secrets_   
_‘Not secrets my dear. Call them with their proper name’._   
_Stefan’s eyes got wide. No, it couldn’t be possible. Stefan and the Ripper were the same person, they were supposed to know the same things, they were supposed to have the same ability but now..._

_“Oh my good self… Differently from you, I can feel them…”_

_Stefan started to back away. Klaus instead punched one bar._

_“Them what ? Them WHAT ?”_

_“Your faults” the ripper said looking at Stefan._  
  
_‘His sins’ his eyes were saying._

_Stefan couldn’t believe it. What did it mean ? Klaus was his soul to save or not ? Why did the things have to be always so difficult ?_   
_Klaus was going to seek again, when suddenly the entire room began to tremble._   
_The walls went blurry, as they were going to disappear. Stefan understood what was happening. Someone was trying to wake them up. Both of them._   
_The laugh of the Ripper was the last thing they heard before to open their eyes._

…

“Stefan… God, Stefan wake up!! FINE !! I’ll wake you up !!”

Without any further hesitations, Lexi hit Stefan hard in in the face, backhanded him and the sound was very loud.   
At least it worked, he could say it when Stefan raised an hand to touch his cheek.

“Ahi… Was it necessary ?” asked Stefan opening his eyes.

“Of course it was. I’ve been trying to wake you up for five minutes. If I didn’t know you were a vampire I would have thought you were in coma. Come on, your daughter disappeared !! We have to look for her !”

That was enough to wake up Stefan completely. The younger vampire jumped from the bed, he wore the first jumper he grabbed and the first pair of shoes.   
Lexi was already dressed up.  
She had woken up because she had a nightmare, she dreamed her brother’s death, so she wore up.   
When she went to kitchen to take a glass of water she noticed that the door of Eri’s bedroom was a little open so Lexi opened the door and found it empty.   
She almost got panic, but then she dressed up, trying not to let her anguish getting in the way. If Eri was in danger, Lexi needed to be in control of her emotions.  
Stefan was another pair of hands.  
He lost control easily when his little girl was in danger and he had all reasons to act like that. New Orleans was a dangerous town due to all vampires whose wander around the town without a decent supervision.   
Stefan was going to open the door when it opened first.

“What the… Oh my…”

“Stefan, what’s happening ?” asked Lexi looking at him as he was crazy.

Stefan couldn’t blame her. He could see that damn sum expression only because he was a Sinner Hunter and his mind was linked with Henry’s ones. That was the only reason why he could see his astral projection. Eri, who stood next the other Hunter, could see him due to her Kiuuby.   
Stefan looked at her with a sever look, silently promising to her that she was going to be granted for at least two weeks for the heart attack she almost caused to him.  
Eri looked at him with an apologetically look, before hugging him.  
The door closed and Lexi still couldn’t understand what was happening until she heard a voice in her head.  
‘Hello sweetheart, beautiful as I remember. I miss you”

“Oh God, is Henry here right ?” asked Lexi strangely glad for it.

“You could say it. He found me when I was out there and…”

“Yes, the reason why you were wandering in the city alone at this time is what I want to talk about, Eri. Nǐ zài xiǎng shénme? Nǐ yǐwéi zhìshǎo? Nǐ jīhū yǐnqǐle xīnzàng gōngjí!” asked Stefan rising his voice ( What did you think of doing? Did you think at least? You almost caused me a heart attack!)

“Bàba wǒ bùdé bù zhèyàng zuò! Wǒ gǎndàole lìng yīzhǒng húlí de cúnzài, wǒ bìxū míngbái fāshēngle shénme shìqíng!” said Eri sitting on the couch and lowering her head guilty (Dad I had to do it! I felt the presence of another fox and I had to figure out what was happening!).

“Can we speak English please ? I feel excluded when you talked in Chinese. If you have something important to say I would appreciate to understand it !) said Lexi frustrated.

“Me too actually ! One thousand years and I’ve never dedicated myself to learn some Oriental languages, so if you could speak English it would be very appreciated” said Henry, or better, his ancestral projection.

“Fine. Explain then, specially because I’ve something to say to you, all of you too.” admitted Stefan passing an hand through his messy hair.

“Is something else about you and my brother ? Did you have dreams with him didn’t you ?”

“Does he know Klaus is your soul to save ?” asked Eri stunned.

“Why ? What’s the problem ?” asked Lexi.

‘Klaus is my brother, my dear’

“WHAT ? Is he a Mikaelson too ?” asked Lexi looking at Stefan with anger eyes.

Okay, maybe she shouldn’t have been mad with Stefan but she would have appreciated to know that Henry was the hybrid’s brother before asking him for help. Henry said that he lacked empathy but that didn’t mean that he would have accepted that one of his brothers was the soul to save of another Hunter.   
Who wouldn’t feel fraud finding out that your sibling could save a stranger from Hell but not his own brother ?  
Eri seemed to think the same thing.   
She could feel that Henry felt a deep hatred toward Cade and she believed him when he said he wanted revenge. But one thing was teaming up for kill the Devil, another thing was helping someone else to conquer your brother’s heart to be saved from Hell, specially because now Klaus was the main object of Cade’s hatred.

‘This is going to be a long night’ Stefan thought rolling his eyes.

‘Oh you could say that, my pal’ said Henry with a smug expression on his face.

If Stefan could, he would have punched the him right in the face. Th situation was everything but funny or hilarious. Stefan was furious and highly discontent. That day had to only finished at that point.   
Why could the Ripper feel Klaus’ sins ? What did it mean ? At this point… who should he believe ?   
Did he truly find his soul to save ? Or it was only a cruel joke ? Why did he have to suffer so much ?   
What was the point anyway ? He had done a wrong move by letting Klaus’ meet the Ripper.   
The Ripper could feel Klaus’ sins and he used them to hurt and offended the hybrid and also so insinuated doubts inside his heart.   
If he had any possibility that Klaus trusted his words before, now there wasn’t any anymore and maybe it wasn’t even important.  
Stefan did believe in what he said to Henry before. Finding a soul to save wasn’t fundamental anymore if Cade could still find a way to drag you in Hell forever. What was really important was killing Cade once and for all and put an end on Hell. Destroying that place, letting the Hell burn in his own flames…   
Oh… that would be a more satisfying vendetta.

...

Klaus was furious, furious as he hadn’t been since his trial.   
Not only his awakening had been brutal (Hayley threw him a jar full of water with all the flowers), but he was still irritated because of his meeting with the Ripper, that big bad counterpart of Stefan.   
Not only he was disturbed by the fact that a part of Stefan, not matter how tedious or cruel could be, considered him nothing more than a piece of rubbish to insult or mess with, but also for what he told to him.  
Was really someone else out there that was chasing Stefan ?   
No, it couldn’t be.   
No normal person would have wore something given by a stalker or someone they considered as a threat, not even a former lover or something like that.   
Klaus was sure that if he had given something to Katherine, like a bracelet, she would have thrown it away the second after finding all her family dead.   
Did it belong to his father ? It was a sort of a memento to remember his first victim ?   
It could be, Stefan said he had a list of all his victims, so it was obvious that remember was important to him. So that bracelet wasn’t a gift from a lover.  
One consolation at least, not enough to make his mood good.  
The reason why he had been woken up so rudely by his family was that Marcel, with a bunch of his vampires, was out of his door, with a maniacal expression of his face, who looked ready to do some kind of craziness.  
Hayley didn’t hesitate to entrust Hope to Rebekah, the only Mikaelson who Marcel wouldn’t have bite at first sight and order het to take the little girl away.  
Rebekah did as she was told, while the rest of the Mikaelson remained where they were, with their new recruits, ready to face Marcel if it was necessary.

“Good evening, Mikaelson family !! Happy to see me here ?” asked Marcel shouting.

Klaus observed him carefully and he noticed that Marcel was acting very weird. He didn’t walk, he was staggering, he looked cheerful, and he was talking like he didn’t have any idea about what he was saying.

“Someone has raised his elbow too much tonight…” Klaus whispered.

But it couldn’t be possible. A vampire could get drunk but not so drunk, never enough not to be even able to walk like a decent person.  
His movements were completely unmatched and from what he could understand by the faces of the other vampires they seemed to share his thoughts as well.

“I hope you enjoy my little visit. If you didn’t, I don’t care anyway. I’m here only to give you an important message myself. You know why ? Because I want to see your face when I’m going to tell you what I must say”

“Then spill it. I’m really curious to know what else bullshit are so important to you to tell me. Do you want continue your insensate litany about my bad parenting toward you ? Are you here to reprove me again about my sins toward you ?” asked Klaus on defensive already.

“No, it would be a waste of time at this point. Your faults are so evident that everyone can see them even with closed eyes ahahhaahh”

Klaus jolted, recognizing the words.  
“I can see them… your faults”  
Damn Ripper and damn Stefan. Specially Ripper for telling him the same things of Marcel.   
Not letting that horrible nightmare getting in the way and distracting him, he focused his attention on Marcel and his vampires.  
It looked like they weren’t there to fight, they were few, not even prepared to defend themselves by the bite of one of their werewolves.   
Was Alistair and his army arriving ?   
Neither. If Alistair was there Klaus had known. The blond vampire liked to do things in big style.  
And surely Marcel wouldn’t have shown himself in that conditions in front of his allies.

“Tell me what you have to and go away” ordered Klaus.

“I want to put an end on it. Once and for all. I’m going to kill you, and now I know how I can do it”.

“Really ? Alistair would be happy to hear this news” commented Elijah with irony.

“Alistair ? He left me, well, it’s a shame for him. He would lost the pleasure of your death. Idiot.”

“Then who’s helping you now ? You’re not smart enough to find a weapon strong enough to kill me all alone”

It was true after all. Marcel had always needed hemp to defeat him. The first time, he needed Rebekah and Mikael’s help to make him go away from New Orleans, the second time it was thanks to his allegiance with Guerrera, the third time thanks to the Beast serum of Lucian. And now who knew ?

“Why wasting my time telling you the truth when you will die anyway ? In three days, we will both ready to kill you. Keep it in mind. Prepare what remained of your army and be ready for your death, Klaus. That’s a promise”

Then Marcel went away, followed by his army.  
If Klaus hadn’t been so focused on mentally insulting Marcel, or Elijah hadn’t been so focused on thinking about a fight plan already, or Hayley hadn’t been busy on planning an escape plane, they all would have noticed that there was something strange behind Marcel’s neck. Something black, little, under his skin, that was moving. A malach.  
But they didn’t notice it and that was their first mistake.   
Their second mistake was not having take seriously Marcel’s words about his new friend.


	17. Duty before Need

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Someone has kidnapped Caroline and Alaric's daughters and no one have any idea about who could have done it. The only person who seems to know something is apparently under control of the kidnapper herself, a young unknown woman who has bad intentions toward a certain vampire.   
> At the same time, another strange allegiance between two Sinner Hunters is forming.  
> In New Orleans instead Kol, Freya and Rebekah found out something important about Henrik and the person who can lead them to him.

Caroline had no idea how she could manage to be calm, really.   
Her little kids were missing since yesterday night and she had no idea about how it could happen. She had no idea how where her daughters were, if they were good or hurt, if someone had taken them. If it could be possible anyway.   
She was a vampire, his hearing could have heard someone entering in the house and taking her daughters aways and in that case Josie and Lizzie would have screamed for help. Alaric would have heard them too, so what did happen ?   
That and similar thoughts were running through her mind, while she was sitting on the couch of her living room, while Elena was keeping her hands, sitting at her side. Bonnie was driving over there, she was taking some stuff to do a locator spell, in order to find the little girls.   
Alaric didn’t waste time. As soon as he found out that his daughter had disappeared he took his keys and went out to look for them in the town, trying to find out if someone had seen them or known something about them.   
Matt went with him and Damon too. He tried to call Enzo but he didn’t answer at the phone and he wasn’t at his house, but everyone were more focused on the research of the girls to worry about him too.  
Enzo was an adult and a vampire too, he could perfectly take care of himself.   
‘What if we can’t find them ?’ Caroline thought.  
She tried to avoid negative thoughts but it was stronger than her.

“Caroline, stop brooding. It would only make it worst. I know that in this moment the only thing you can do is thinking about the situation but it wont’t be useful. You have to stay calm”

“Elena I can’t !! My daughters disappeared !! i have no idea where they are and instead of being out there looking for them with the guys, I’m here waiting for them…”

“In case of their return, remember. You said yourself that it couldn’t be a kidnap, something else happen. You didn’t even find blood, so they weren’t hurt when they left this house.”

“Yes and all of these things make looking the entire situation worse because it looks more abnormal than it should be. There is no sign of infraction, so sign of blood, surely anyone else entered in this house. So Josie and Lizzie had to leave the house themselves, but how couldn’t I hear them ? The door was closed this morning, so where did they go out from ? Did they leave alone ? Someone out there take them ? God, I look my mum during an investigation” said Caroline exasperated passing an hand through her long hair.

In that moment, the doorbell rang and Elena stood up to open the door. It had to be Bonnie.  
But when she opened the door she saw Enzo, who looked at her with smugness expression on his face. Too smug for the situation.

“Hello, sweetheart. Can I come in ?” asked Enzo entering without waiting for Elena’s response.

“At least we know you’re good. We have been trying to call you all day. Where were you ?” asked Elena closing the door.

‘Does it really matter ?’ though Caroline who was in a bad mood and the last thing she needed was assisting at one of the usual fights between Enzo and Elena.  
It was well-known that Elena and Enzo couldn’t put it up with each other, not matter if they both cared about Damon. But it was also known that Elena was the one who put more efforts to make things easier between them.

“Who are you ? My mother ? The only reason I’m here is only because I have a message for Caroline” said Enzo putting an hand into his jacket’s pocket.

“Listen me, you idiot. I’ve no time to waste with you and your stupid games. If you know something about my kids then you can remain and tell me, if you’re here only to irritate me, then you can leave !!” said Caroline standing up and pushing Enzo behind.

“No reason to be rude. As I said, I’m here to give you this”

Enzo reached a piece of paper toward Caroline.   
The blond vampire grabbed it rudely, then she looked on it. There was a cell number, but there wasn’t written who it belonged to.   
What was that ? A kind of joke ? Maybe she hadn’t been clear enough when she said that she was in a bad mood for games and jokes.

“What the hell is that ?” asked Caroline rudely.

“Someone you would better to call if you want to know where your children are” answered Enzo in a weird mechanical voice.

Both Caroline and Elena looked surprised. Now they noticed that Enzo was looking strange. Yes it was irritating, but not at his usual. He looked composed and calm, when the situation was desperate, and he didn’t even asked where Bonnie was and she was his girlfriend. When he talked to Caroline, he was talking like a delivery bellows, like someone who had just repeated a memorized phrase.   
He stood up at the center of the living room, silently, without even winking after being pushed. As someone else ordered him to stay still.  
‘Too strange things for one morning’ Elena thought.   
Caroline noticed it too. She grabbed her cell and composed the number. Then she waited.

_“Hello ? Am I talking with Caroline Forbes ?”_

The voice who was talking belong to a young woman, but Caroline couldn’t remember to have ever heard it. It was someone she didn’t know, a stranger. A stranger that knew where her kids was.  
The situations couldn’t get worse.

‘Yes, who are you ?”

_“It doesn’t matter. Hello Josie, good morning. Do you want to talk with mommy ?”_

Caroline’s heart lost a beat. Was it that stranger woman who took her children ? How ? Why ? Was she saying the truth ?

_“Mommy ?! I’m happy to talk with you. My friend told me you will come here really soon, is she saying the truth ?”_

Josie’s voice snapped her from her thoughts. That was her voice, she could recognize it anywhere. Well, at least it meant she was still alive and she didn’t sound scared or hurt, which meant that, whoever that woman was, she hadn’t touch her or Lizzie. They were good and apparently the woman had no intention of keeping them with her. Another good thing.

“Yes, mommy is coming. What’s the name of your friend ?”

_“She said is a secret and that If I’m going to tell you she will close the call and Lizzie wants to say hello to you too”_

“Oh okay, pass me Lizzie please”

_“Hello mommy. Our friend is great. She made pancakes for us, they're delicious and she sang us a beautiful song and… oh… she wants to speak with you again. See you later mommy”_

“No, wait…”

_“Hello again Miss Forbes. As you can see, your children are safe and sound. I didn’t hurt them in any way. And I hope I won’t have to. For now, I don’t want to be found, it’s the only reason why I know for sure that your little witch friend is not coming”_

“What have you done to Bonnie ?” asked Caroline capturing Elena’s attention too.

Enzo instead stayed still again. Not moving by one centimeter, not even now that he knew his girlfriend was in danger.   
’Too much people for worrying about in one morning’, Elena thought rolling her eyes.

_“I simply put her on a deep slumber for a little. I don’t want her to interfere. She will wake up in few hours. For now, I want you to know my conditions. This afternoon you will send a person to me, only the person I request. I want to talk to him, proposing him a deal and if he’s going to accept it and I will set your daughter free”_

“Are you joking ? I’m their mother. I want their back, I…”

_“I will give them back to you, if the person I want will accept my conditions.”_

“What if he or she doesn’t ?” asked Caroline.

_“Then you will have two persons to blame for their… well… for their lost future”_

“I swear to God, if you hurt them…”

_“Spare your threats for the person who will have to meet me later. All he has to do is accepting my deal. Not so difficult isn’t it ?”_

The young woman sound confident, too confident for Caroline’s taste and she had all the reasons to be after all.  
Caroline had no other options than accepting the other’s conditions.

‘Fine. Who do you want ?”

_“Damon Salvatore”_

‘Why am I not surprised ?’ Caroline thought with irony.

…

Kol, Freya and Rebekah were preparing everything necessary to invoke their mother from the other side. Elijah and Klaus weren’t here because, according to them, invoking their mother to ask her if their youngest sibling was a Sinner Hunter was a waste of time, specially now that Marcel had declared war to them.   
They had only three days to prepare their new recruits to fight against Marcel’s army. Three days to prepare their vervain grenades and also some Werewolf toxin.   
Well, waste of time or not, Kol needed answers. He knew that he would have regretted if he didn’t ask that question to his mother.  
Was Henrik still alive ?   
He didn’t even care if his little brother was an Hunter or not, he just wanted to know if Henry was still alive.  
Rebekah and Freya were determinate like him. Rebekah saw Henry growing up, she took him in her arms while he was still an infant and she hugged his death body last time that she saw him.  
Maybe she didn’t think about him a lot, but Henrik’s death was still an open wound in her heart, not matter how much time passed.   
Freya had never known him, but she was still suffering for Finn’s death and if she could have back at least one of her two lost brothers, she wouldn’t lose the occasion. Freya finished to turn on all the candles on the floor, then she took both Kol and Rebekah’s hands.

“Are you ready ?” asked Freya.

The other nodded so Freya started the spell.

“Phasmatos Manex, un domo had, fero adiuvex”

She repeated the spell several times, when suddenly she could feel her body possessed by Esther’s spirit as she wanted to.

“Mother ? Are you here ?” asked Rebekah to be certain that the spell worked.

Esther, inside Freya’s body nodded, then she said “I’ve no a lot of time. Someone’s trying to take me back, in a horrible place.”

“Really ? The Other side didn’t seem so bad last time” commented Kol last time.

He had been there, in the Other Side, when he died the second time, after being killed by that useless bunch of humans in Mystic Falls. Of course the Other side wasn’t funny as the real world, the idea of being dead was disturbing anyway, but he couldn’t consider it horrible.

“I’m not in the Other Side anymore. The devil took my soul and imprisoned me in Hell. I’m here only because he wants me to”

“What is this bunch of nonsense ? We don’t care about your problems, we want to know the truth about Henry’s death. Nothing else” said Kol harshly.

“Henrik… so you found out” said Esther not surprised at all.

“So is he still alive ?” asked Rebekah with hope in her voice.

“Had you been so cruel to sell him to Devil ? Really ?” asked Kol instead.

The veins appeared around his eyes and along his cheeks, while his hands started to tremble. If the person in front of him had been his mother for real, he would have attempted at her jugular already.  
Was their mother real so cruel ? Enough to sell their brother to a demon ?

“I admit I made a deal with Devil. But it wasn’t only about you, I want him to come back alive. It was too late for him to become a vampire and you were becoming too dangerous to remain alive, so I made a deal with a Devil. My son in change of your death and his immortality”

“Then, why, care to explain, are we still alive ?” asked Rebekah who was getting angry as Kol.

“The Devil didn’t respect his part of the deal. He wants vampires to exist. When I tried to oppose him, he threatened me to imprison my soul in Hell forever, so I stopped and I had been free to go in the Other Side, while my little boy was turned into a monster, a murder and his heart hardened. He hates me”

“I can’t blame him” commented Kol disgusted by his mother’s words.

“Where is him ?” asked Rebekah trying to be more practical.

Their mother said not to have a lot of time and she looked scared. She also said that someone was trying to pull her back in Hell, and Rebekah believed her. She could always tell when someone was trying to lie to her. That was why, she needed to know where her beloved little brother was, without wasting time in insults and recriminations.  
Esther tried to answer, but Freya’s body started to shiver, sign that Esther was going to disappear.

“You… have to be careful. The Devil is arrived in New Orleans, he had your brother’s soul in his hands… only a boy can save him”

“A boy ? Who ?” asked Rebekah.

“He’s here in New Orleans too. . He’s name… Salvatore… He will take you to Henrik…”

“Wait you said…”

Freya started to scream, then her body fell on the ground and started to tremble, like an epileptic, still screaming. Her nose started to bleed, all the candles turned off, and Freya could feel clearly Esther being taken away from her body, so violently that she almost fear that her soul was going to burn in Hell with her.   
Kol and Rebekah threw away the candles and came closer to their sister’s body.   
Freya felt pain in every limb of her body, she could barely breath and kept her eyes open.   
Rebekah was holding her in her arms, while she was thinking about the informations her mother gave to them about Henrik.  
A part of her was happy that her brother was still alive, another part sad for all the time they lost, another was glad that Henrik lived separated from their family.   
He would have been unhappy with them anyway. Now they were determinate to start a new life together, they were trying to change, to be a real family and Henrik could be happy with them now.

“Salvatore ? Is Damon here ?” asked Kol.

It was the only Salvatore he knew and Rebekah too. Maybe that Salvatore wasn’t even parented with Damon, maybe he only had his same last name.   
Well, at least they have more informations and they knew that this “Salvatore” was in New Orleans already.   
Kol remained silent, pondering all his options and the possible scenarios when he would say to his brother the truth about Henrik.  
He already knew that Klaus and Elijah would consider their stupid fucking war against Marcel a priority over their little brother.  
‘One problem at time…’ that was what Elijah was going to say.   
Klaus would refuse to believe the informations at all and when Klaus decided to be in denial regarding something there wasn’t much to do to make him change his mind.   
So, Kol knew he was all alone. Maybe Rebekah would have chosen to find Henrik first with him, but for now he couldn’t be sure.  
Kol didn’t care at all. His brother was out there, all alone, servant of the Devil and there was only one person who could help him and Kol was going to find him. At any cost.

  
…

Sybil was watching the two brats while they were eating the pancakes she prepared for them.   
It had passed a long time since she cooked something for someone else.   
She hated cooking, but she had to learn how do it when she “adopted” Henry.   
Henry was only a child, he couldn’t take care of himself, so Sybil asked Cade to let her Henry live with her until he would have been adult enough to take care oh himself without supervision.   
Sybil and Henry lived together for thirteen years before Henry was considered old enough to live alone and follow all the rules of a regular Sinner Hunter.   
During that period, Sybil learnt a lot of things to care her of her little “boy”, the only one person she could say she felt a true affection for.   
He loved when she cooked for him and apparently the two brats appreciated her pancakes as well.  
Nor that she cared for it.  
She was thinking, planning her next move, judging what she had done.   
It hadn’t been so difficult. After the kidnap of the two brats, she went to the house of Damon’s new surrogate brother and she used her voice to corrupt his mind.   
She obliged him to put some sleeping pills inside each drinks in Bonnie’s kitchen and then to give to Caroline her cell number.  
She needed the witch out of the game for a while, so she couldn’t use a located spell to find them.   
Sybil was a psychic, not exactly a witch, but with the help of a ‘friend’, now her hideout was safe from Bonnie.   
Now the only thing she hoped was that Damon accepted to meet her.   
She lied about the deal, she had been capable of manipulating Damon once, she would do it again without any hesitation. Then the brats would be free to go, Stefan would come in Mystic to save his precious brother again and he would give up on his soul to save to be sure that Damon would have been safe from Hell.   
Not one of her most diabolical plan, but she hoped that it would work anyway.   
The first time she manipulated Damon had been fantastic.   
He was depressed, so depressed because he missed Katherine so much. All Sybil had to do was replacing herself in his memories with Katherine and then she had little Damon wrapped around her little finger.

_‘I see you’re not wasting time, mommy. What are you plotting ?’_ asked Henry’s voice in her head.

‘Henry ? I miss you. Where are you ?’ she asked in her mind.

_“I’m moving. Las Vegas has become pretty boring recently and I know what you’re planning to do. I want to propose you the deal you don’t want to make with Damon”_

“Henry… please. You like Stefan, you want him to remain in the family and…’

“ _We are planning something bigger, Sybil. I won’t say anything more if you don’t promise me that you’re not going to betray me”_

‘After all this time… you still have faith in me ah?’

“ _I still have the rosary you gave me. I still have faith in God and I have faith in you.”_

Sybil smiled. The rosary was the first present she gave to someone. Nothing exiting, but for Sybil was important that Henry had faith in God. Sometime praying in an empty Church was comforting, the idea or at least the hope that someone was still dispose to forgive you for your sins.   
She didn’t have any idea of what Henry was planning, but she knew he was smart, manipulative, back-stabber when he had to, a real trickster.

‘Do you remember how to use Verbis Diablo ?’

_“You could say it’._

…

Stefan, Lexi and Eri were walking through the street of New Orleans, their were looking for Jun or, better, Eri was looking for June using her Kyuubi, while Stefan and Lexi were following her not to her het alone in case there would be the need of fighting against the older kitsune.

“She’s good at hiding. My Kyuubi can’t find her and we had been looking for her for two hours.”

“Maybe she’s keeping an eye on Marcel. I hope not or she would find out that something goes wrong with the Beast” commented Lexi.

It was the first thing she said from the last night. After their long, too long, conversation with Henry and after that his astral projection disappeared, Lexi went to her bedroom without telling a word. It was obvious that she didn’t like the situation, and Stefan couldn’t blame.   
Lexi was a good person with a gentle heart and she didn’t like being involved in this kind of situation. Apparently, one thing was being the best friend of a Sinner Hunter, another was being involved in the troubles of more than one Sinner Hunter, since now Henry became a part of their little “family”.  
Eri instead was reacting far better. She was a kitsune and she had lived under the same roof with a Sinner Hunter for over a century and also accompanied him during his hunts.   
And she was a kitsune, she loved that kind of things and it didn’t happen often to meet one of her kind.

“Well, we have to keep an eye on her. If we find her obviously. Kitsunes are excellent at hiding when they don’t want to be found, but I doubt that she’s near Marcel. She would be considered suspected if someone notice her constant presence around Marcel” said Stefan.

“So, remember me, why do we have keep an eye on her if all the damages she could done are already done ?” asked Lexi.

“Because we have to find her before Tyallah’s arrival. If Henry’s right and Cade sent another Sinner Hunter here, we have to get rid of the kitsune as soon as possible. Or we would risk to be attacked on two fronts.”

“Can you repeat me please what kind of creature this Tyallah is ?” asked Lexi.

“She’s a succubus. She’s an attractive woman who seduces men, through sexual activity in order to eat them. She can also take the semblance of the person you love or feel a strong attraction. This is what make difficult recognize her, specially when it’s the first time you meet a succubus” explained Stefan.

“Have you ever meet her ?” asked Lexi.

“Never. This is what makes me nervous the most”

Stefan didn’t know personally all the Sinner Hunters. Only Henry, Agatha and Sybil. He knew her name only because he heard Cade calling her like that and talking to her, during one of their riunions.   
Henry didn’t know her either, but he knew her sure that she was coming here because he saw her coming in New Orleans thanks to one of his visions.  
He only said to have seen a woman with long hair, with a rosary in one hand and a silver anklet around her left ankle, but he saw her from behind and according to his vision she would arrive in New Orleans in two days.   
The worst part was that they didn’t even now why exactly Cade sent her there and why now.   
Henry hadn’t found it out yet and Cade had being avoidant ultimately, probably he was suspecting something. They hoped not.   
The last thing they needed was a direct intervention by the Devil to put all his Hunters at their place. Henry had already violated one of his rules, not using Verbis Diablo on the other Hunters but he used it on them yesterday and he also told to Eri the spell, so she could use it now on herself and her father.   
Henry told them not to worry about him, but stuff knew that Cade was going to punish him, at least he didn’t offer him something in return.

‘Maybe I could offer to him to kiss me on the cheek. Nothing too much intimate’ Stefan thought without even being completely aware of his own thought.

‘I accept your deal. No punishment for little Henry and in return I accept to kiss you on both of your cheeks. You own me this’

Cade’s voice made him frozen. Of course, Cade didn’t lose occasion to reclaim something from him, but at least Henry would have be okay in the end.   
The last thing Stefan wanted was putting the only friend he had in the troubles.   
Speaking of troubles, he wasn’t the only one who was taking big risks. In that town news ran fast and apparently Marcel declared was to Klaus, again and he gave him three day before the final conflict.  
Amazing…  
At least he wouldn’t have risked to meet the hybrid that morning. The last thing Stefan wanted was another fight with the hybrid about his lies, the secrets and the Ripper.  
The Ripper… his words had kept him awake all the night. Stefan brooded and brooded about that, trying to find an explanations, but it was everything useless.  
He still didn’t even know what possessed him when he chose to show to Klaus the Ripper, the monster inside him, his own reflect when he looked at the mirror, the part of him who wanted nothing more than giving up on all his morals and rules and have fun in Hell.   
Oh the Ripper loved being an Hunter. He could killed how much he wanted, how he wanted, and no one could deny him that pleasure as killer of Devil.  
The only obstacle between the Ripper and his ambition of becoming the new Prince of Hell was Stefan, within his morals, gentle heart and love for his musume.   
Well, his inner conflict could wait for another time, not it wasn’t the appropriate moment to be distracted.

“…Jun surely knows more than we do. Surely she won’t tell us anything spontaneously, but we are two vampires and a kitsune. With an appropriate persuasion we can push her to tell us the truth” said Eri.

“I hope. Why Henry didn’t follow him yesterday night ?” asked Lexi frustrated.

“He wanted to make sure I could come back him safely and he isn’t safe coming here through the astral projection. There witches use Ancestral magic, they could easily feel when a spirit or a demon, like mine, coming in town. Henry’s astral projection is strong and attire a lot of attention.”

“Said in few words, he doesn’t want his family to find out he’s still alive and a Sinner Hunter” said Lexi rolling her eyes.

“Could you blame him ? He hadn’t seen his family for a long time, they thought he’s dead and had no idea of what it meant being a Sinner Hunter. Mikaelson’ family had ruled the world as an Aristocracy, Henry had served the Devil like the most humble of the daggers. They wouldn’t understand him and he doesn’t want to be judged or pitied.” said Stefan.

“Are you still speaking about him or you’re talking about yourself too ?” asked Lexi.

“What do you mean ?” asked Stefan even if he perfectly understood.

“The reason why you’ve never looked for Damon. You don’t want him not to recognize you and judge you for what you become. That’s what I mean” said Lexi shrugging.

“He has not right to judge me Lexi. And you’re wrong anyway, but now is not important. Let’s find the kitsune.”

  
It was the truth anyway. Lexi was wrong. The reason why he hadn’t look for Damon was only one, he didn’t want to risk to kill him.  
Stefan felt a lot of resentment toward his older bother for his abandon, and when Stefan chose to suffer in silence, the Hunter and the Ripper didn’t agree with him.  
A part of Stefan wanted revenge on his older brother, by killing everyone he loved, if there was someone he could love, and by destroying everything he had.   
Stefan wanted to rip apart his stupid little world before to rip apart his body, limb by limb.   
Killing Damon would have been so satisfying, but fratricide was one of the worst sin a man could ever commit. If he succumbed to it he would burn in Hell forever.   
‘Duty before the need, Stefan. Duty before the need’.

…

‘Duty before the need, Klaus. Keep it in mind’, Klaus thought.  
Klaus and Elijah had been training the new recruits all morning, without even a break to breath.   
The recruits were good, but not good enough to defeat an army of vampires of hundreds years older than them. Hayley was preparing some useful weapon with the help of her pack, while Freya, Kol and Rebekah decided to waste their time to invoke Esther.   
Klaus tried to persuade them from doing it but they didn’t listen. They didn’t think about Marcel and his threats and the imminent war that was going to begin.   
The others chose to ignore Marcel’s words, but Klaus was thinking about them, trying to find a veil of truth.  
He said that Alistair interrupted his allegiance with him, so who was his new friend ? He said that both of them would be ready to kill him, but how ?   
Marcel was smart, but not smart enough and surely he didn’t act normally last night. He looked like a teenager who had an hangover for the first time in his life. And why did he declare war so suddenly ?   
Why did he warn him ?  
Was his ally so powerful that he didn’t even need to hide it from the hybrid ?   
Klaus was snapped by his thoughts when one of the recruits, a young boy who belonged to his new bloodline, hit him hard in the face with a punch.

“Oh sorry Mr Mikaelson !! I didn’t want !!” said

“It’s not your fault, kid. Someone’s really distracted today” said Elijah, implying a reproach that made Klaus rolling his eyes.

“Sorry. I need a break. Maybe I convince one of that terrible wastrels to take my place.” said Klaus coming back inside the house without giving Elijah the possibility to reply.

Klaus was tired. He hadn’t slept well that night and the Ripper’s words were still tormenting him as Marcel’s speech.  
He couldn’t forget how the Ripper looked at him, as he was nothing more than a piece of rubbish, a fallen king of a forgotten kingdom who wasn’t worthy of his time. Stefan looked at him like he was an angel, the Ripper instead looked at him as the broken thing he was.  
“I can see your faults…’   
Klaus could see them too. He was weak, without army, without power, he had nothing. He was what he always feared to be, far away from his ideal self.   
He hated himself for this.   
In another time, he would have killed anyone who dared to talk to him in that way, now… he was only capable of making people laugh of him.  
‘I make sick even myself’, he thought passing an hand through his golden hair.   
He was going to go upstairs, when the three wastrels anticipated him, looking at him with frowning looks.

“Nik, we need to talk” said Rebekah crossing her arms.

“We do, I’m tired and someone has to take my place to train the recruits. Who offers ?” asked Klaus not to want to know any of her nonsense.

“I don’t give a fuck of the recruits Klaus. We have a question for you and we expect an answer” said Kol rising his voice.

“If you here to fight with me Col, you chose the worst of the time. Screw you !”

“Klaus, please. We invoke our mother, she’s confirmed our suspicious. Henry is alive and he’s somewhere and we need to find him” said Freya.

Klaus’ heart lost a bit. Was Henry really alive ? Did his mother tell the truth ?  
No, story speaking, his mother had proved to be manipulative and deceptive. There was any certain that she told the truth. Maybe she made up al the story only to distract them from their war, so that Marcel could finally kill them all.  
It had to be that way, Klaus refused even to only consider the idea that his littlest brother had been out there for all this time, killing people and being the puppet of a demon. He refused to accept the idea that he failed again toward his littlest brother, that he hadn’t been capable of protecting him twice.

“… only a guy named Salvatore can help up to find him…”

The Salvatore name snapped Klaus from his thoughts.

“What ? Salvatore ?” asked Klaus.

“Yes, she said this name. So we wanted to ask you if Damon ever told you he had a brother or something like that. She’s said that his guy is already in New Orleans too.” confirmed Freya.

Oh, he did know this guy. It was the same guy who was making his heart beating fast every time he only dared to think about him. A guy with the most stunning green forest eyes he ever seen. The only guy that was making him questioning his sexual orientation, because Klaus’s never felt something like that for another boy.   
A boy with a lot of secrets and one of them regarded his little brother.  
Now Klaus was officially done. Now he wanted answers, Stefan owned him them. Toddler’s own secrets were a pair of hand, another one was the fact the he was the key for finding his littlest brother.

“I know this guy. There’s no need to call Damon. I can take them to him” said Klaus walking toward the living room where he left his jacket.

“Wait and your recruits ?” asked Rebekah surprised.

“They can wait. That toddler has the bad habit of keeping things from me. But I’m done. I want answers and he’s going to give me them. Let’s go”

…

Damon was furious, out of his mind furious. The morning started in the worst of ways. He and Elena had fight last night, so she refused to sleep with him and she only called him for telling him that Alaric’s children had disappeared.   
Now he had been sitting for over an hour on the couch in the Forbes-Saltzman, listening Caroline yelling at him, blaming him for the disappearance of her childcare because, if someone kidnapped them and asked to meet him it was obviously his fault, according to Caroline’s logic.   
At least he wasn’t the only victim of his nonsense. She spared her reproach between him and Enzo.   
His little friend had been sitting next to him, motionless as a statue, in silence, looking in the emptiness.  
Caroline was screaming at him, yelling at him, Alaric also hit him and he didn’t do anything in return.   
He remained in a weird silence, an imposed silence. From himself or by someone else, that was to find out yet.

“Enzo, don’t you really remember who gave you the paper ?” asked Elena for the umpteenth time.

Enzo remained silence and Caroline groaned for the exasperation.

“It’s useless. It seemed that this woman, whoever she is, she’s controlling his mind, which meant that probably she also know what we are saying in this moment” said Alaric styling Enzo’s expression.

“She’s smart, that’s obvious. Whatever her plan is, she thought about every details.” commented Elena.

“So, we must respect her conditions or she will hurt my kids, amazing. This is the worst thing could have ever happen to me. My kids disappear and their lives are in the hand of the most self centered bastard I’ve ever met !” shouted Caroline hit Damon hard on the cheek.

“Hey ! Calm down Care !! He’s not his fault, not completely at least. We don’t know this woman, we don’t know what she has in mind, what she wants from us and stuff like that. For now, she assured you that your children are safe and that she doesn’t mean to hurt them. For now at least” said Elena.

“Yes, for now !! Who can promise me that she will keep her words ? She made Enzo put Bonnie on a slumber to have her out of the game. Why can’t we just send Damon to her ?”

“Yes, and what assure us that she won’t kill me sorry ?” asked Damon with irony.

“I’m willing to take the risk to save my daughters” said Caroline harshly.

It was obvious to anybody that the blond wasn’t thinking clearly. Caroline wouldn’t have said something like that in a normal situation, but she was scared for her kids and she had all the right to act that way. Alaric instead was trying to remain calm and composed, even if he looked ready to drag Damon to that woman to be sure that his daughters would be safe.   
Damon wasn’t happy about the situation, he hated it. The worst part of it was that he had no idea of who that woman could be. Enzo looked incapable of speaking without her permission, Caroline said that the woman didn’t tell her any personal informations about herself.  
According to him, she could be anyone. He had a lot of enemies, of both gender, so he couldn’t say to have a clear idea about who the kidnapper was.  
In the end, one final true remained, he wasn’t the cruel, self centered, sadistic, bastard, selfish Damon Salvatore he used to be. He was trying to change, for Elena, for make up for a particularly mistake he hadn’t forgive to himself yet.   
He would have been a liar if he said that he was happy to obey to a mysterious coward woman who didn’t even had the courage to show herself, preferring taking away two children from their parents to meet him.  
He closed his eyes and for a moment he wandered about what Stefan would have advised him to do in a situation like that.  
‘Duty before need, keep it in mind brother’.  
Stefan was the responsible one, between them. The kind of guy Damon would never been. The kind of guy who put other’s well being and happiness before his own. The kind of guy Damon secretly had always wanted to be.

“Did she say where she wants to meet me ?” asked Damon exhausted.

“Are seriously thinking about meeting her ?” asked Elena stunned.

“She said to meet at the Wickery Bridge at 10 PM. She will take the children with her. Enzo will come with you, he will take our children to us if you accept her deal or she will kill them.” answered Caroline ignoring Elena’s protests.

“Well,’ she’s quite aggressive. Amazing. I’m going to meet her and that’s final” said Damon.

“No !! There has to be another way !” Elena replied.

“There isn’t and I don’t want have my best friend’s daughter on the conscience. I’m login to meet this viper and you’re not going to change my mind” said Damon going away before that someone else could stop him.

Already once, an innocent had been doomed at his place because of his own stupidity, Damon now wouldn’t repeat the same mistake twice.  
This time he would make things right, he promised it to the person he promised to save to only broke the promise in the end.


	18. A secret to kill for

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stefan, Eri and Lexi finally found Jun, but the older kitsune doesn't have good intentions toward them. Jun is loyal to Cade and will do anything she can to protect her secrets.   
> Stefan has secrets to protect too... what will he be willing to do to protect them ?

CHAPTER 18

  
Stefan was on the point of screwing up the kitsune and coming back home.   
They had wasted the entire morning looking for a bitch too good at hiding. Eri was trying to do her best ifor finding Hun, but the other kitsune was older and stronger than her and she could easily hid herself from another kitsune.  
They were in a complete disadvantage. At least he hoped that Eri wouldn’t get offended if she didn’t find Jun. It wouldn’t be her fault, but Eri would consider it this way anyway.   
Sometime Stefan regretted not to have found another kitsune to ask for help with Eri. She needed to have someone else of her kind near to her, to teach her how develop her powers properly, someone who could give her advices and train her maybe.   
That person wasn’t Stefan but he promised, in that moment, that in the end of the two months, not matter what would happen, if he would be free or not, he had all the intentions of looking for another kitsune to help his musume.   
Maybe with a little help Eri could find Jun.  
Kitsunes absorbed pain, sufferance and darkness inside of people’s heart. Jun may was a powerful kitsune but she needed to eat to stay strong, she was a predator and like any predators she was hunting.

“Eri, when a kitsune’s hunting, her kyuubi is…”

“Is difficult to find because is not the kyuubi who needs sins to be strong, is the kitsune who needs pain and sins to control her powers and her kyuubi. So when a kitsune is eating her kyuubi is…” Eri stopped “Her kyuubi is less easy to find but not the sins and the pain she absorb. Genial ! Otōsan maybe you…”

“Maybe I can finally find her. Just give me a minute”

Stefan closed his eyes, then he concentrated on the sins around him.   
If he learnt something from his experience, it was that any person was a sinner, because anyone do bad things every single day, it didn’t matter if they were mild or serious sins, even a little lie, a bad thought about someone, a forbidden desire was a sin.  
There were so many delicious sins around him, belonged to million sinners who he was so ready to kill. Stupid him, he didn’t hunt for two nights and now the Hunter inside him was hungry, he was becoming impatient.   
‘Pay attention, Stefan’.

“Well ? Did you find something ?” asked Lexi who was secretly curious to know another kitsune.

Stefan smirked. He did… He could feel a great source of sins, so clever, so bright that he didn’t have any doubt that it was th kitsune who was absorbing sins and pain by people around her.  
A young kitsune, could only absorb sins by the physical contacts, but a strong old kitsune just need to be around other people to absorb their pain without even being noticed.  
Kitsunes were the best at hiding their true nature and their kyuubi, that was the reason why they were so difficult to find. Fortunately, being a Sinner Hunter was truly helpful.

“I know where she’s. Let’s move. We can’t lose her again”

…

Alistair Duquesne had just finished to prepare his luggage. There wasn’t so much to take with him but he wanted to be ready for the day he’d kill Klaus Mikaelson. His spies told him that it was official, that Marcel had challenged Klaus for last time, promising him to kill him once and for all.   
His spies also told him that Marcel had a new mysterious ally, who even Klaus didn’t know anything about.   
Alistair smirked. In the end the Devil kept his promise, nor that Alistair had any doubt about it.   
Of course he had to wait a lot for getting what he wanted but in the end he couldn’t say he was unsatisfied. Finally, finally he was going to get what he wanted after all that time…

  
_Alistair Duquesne was trying to find the strength and the courage to kill himself the stake he was holding with both his hands._   
_He didn’t have any other reason to live anymore… He lost everything, his lovely wife, his beautiful daughter, the life they had and the life they could have had together and only because a cursed creature, a monster, a beast he hated with all his heart. Klaus Mikaelson. He did this to him, he made him kill his wife and his daughter, he turned him into a monster, he ruined his life forever and Alistair couldn’t do anything to stop him or kill him._   
_The tears were running thought his cheeks and they didn’t seem to wanted to stop, Alistair didn’t want to stop crying in the first place. There was any dignity to preserve, no one would have seen him crying, because no one left to help him in that moment. He was alone and if he didn’t put an end on his life he would have been alone forever._   
_He didn’t have anything left to life for._   
_His life ended in the exactly moment the little heart of his beautiful little princess died. In the exactly moment when the light disappeared from her beautiful green eyes because of her father._

_“I coming to you, little princess… “ he said continuing to cry “I’m coming to you… I only hope you’ll forgive me…”_

_He still had her blood on his clothes and around his mouth, he could still feel her screams when his fangs penetrated her skin on the neck and she was begging him to stop because he was hurting her._   
_Now, he couldn’t handle all that pain anymore, now he was going to do it, now he would finally died, now the pain would finally stop._   
_Klaus would win, again, it wasn’t fair but life wasn’t fair and Alistair had only accept his defeated._   
_Closing his eyes, biting his lips, taking a death breath he was ready to hit his heart with the stake, when someone stopped him from ending the act._   
_An hand grabbed his wrist, firmly._

_“Stop yourself… It’s not too late… it’s not over yet…”_

_Alistair opened his eyes and he saw a beautiful woman in front of him. She was looking at him with a gentle and compassionate look in her almond eyes._   
_She was wearing an elegant and refined black dress and for a moment Alistair thought that the Dead herself appeared in front oh him to take him to his family in Heaven._   
_But she was touching his hands, her skin was cold, and she looked too real to be only a vision._

_“Who are you ? Are you an angel ?” asked him._

_She laughed then she caressed his cheek “No, my dear. I’m not an angel, I’m a friend and I’m here to help you”_

_“You can’t help me. No one can’t anymore. Please let me die” he begged starting to cry again._

_“No, no no, don’t be like that. As I said, is not too late for you. Indeed, I think this is your lucky day. I’m here to offering you my help to have your vendetta against bad men like Klaus”_

_That words caught his attention. What was she talking about ? Was she trying to deceive him ? To illusion him ?_   
_He looked at her and she looked good, too good to do something so cruel to him._   
_She was smiling at him, caressing his check, as his mother used to do when he was a child. If she wasn’t an angel, he couldn’t imagine how an angel could be. Sybil for a moment pitied the man in front of her, she was pretending to offer him a loophole, an occasion to have justice, but she was only promising him a living Hell. Well, Cade wanted that man as an Hunter, he always told her that the purest evil born from the purest hearts. Alistair used to be a good gentle human man, but now he wouldn’t be anymore. His heart was going to get harder and harder. He would become cruel, a killer and Cade wanted him._

_“How can you help me with that ?” asked Klaus._

_“My husband is the one they call the Devil. He had a lot of powers and he always keeps his promises. If you promise to be loyal to him, obedient to him, he would give you the thing you want the most in return”_

_“Seriously ? Can he give me anything I want ?”_

_“Everything. But of course you have to give him something in return”_

_Alistair smiled. He wasn’t surprised. Everything always came with a price, but the girl looked sincere. She said that her husband was going to help him if he only accepted his price. He looked at her hand and saw a silver ring, elegant and beautiful, with a diamond. His wife loved diamonds too… but now he didn’t have anyone to buy things for… And only because of Klaus, only because of that monster, that cruel man who deserved to die, who deserved to suffer and burn in Hell forever._

_“What do I have to do ?”_

_“If you accept the deal, you’ll be a Sinner Hunter. You’ll have to kill all sinners, people who committed unforgivable sins, people who deserve to pay, who deserve to suffer. You’re a vampire, it’ll be easy for you to kill people and hide your murders.”_

_“Murders ?”_

_“Don’t worry dear. Until there’s light in your heart… Hell won’t be place for you” said Sybil kissing him forehead._

“You were wrong, my dear Sybil” said Alistair grabbing his luggage “There’s any more light inside my heart but thank you anyway”.

Becoming a Sinner Hunter revealed to be the wisest choice he ever taken in his life.   
He had everything thanks to Cade, an army, power, immortality, a free pass out of Hell and now even a weapon to kill his hateful nemesis.  
Oh Klaus Mikaelson was going to suffer for what he had done to him and his family, and then all his family and even his dreary daughter would follow him in Hell. No one would save him now, no one could, there was no creature strong enough to kill a Sinner Hunter except for another Hunter or Cade himself.   
The possibilities of failure were low, he could do it, he could finally win.  
‘See you soon, Mikaelson. Your end is close’ he thought with a cruel smile on his lips.   
In the pocked of his jacket, there was his silver pocket watch whose hands would soon mark the hour of Klaus’ death.

…

Henry was frustrated. The reason ? He felt the moment his siblings invoked his mother and he was the one who dragged him back using all his powers to make her stay in the prison he built for her in Hell, without giving her a chance to escape anymore.  
Cade denied him the privilege of killing her personally, he told him that the risk of being discovered by his family was too high, but the Devil promised to him that his mother would suffer and he kept his promise, after a proper fuck together.  
But Henry didn’t care anymore if he had to play the part of the little whore of the Devil if in the end he got what he wanted. It was always worthy the pain. His mother’s suffered was worthy the pain.   
Henry could visit his mother in her prison in Hell and it was always so funny and satisfying seeing the pain in her eyes, listening her tedious voice begging him to set her free and tortured her with his powers.   
He had his mother’s soul in the palm of his hands, he could torture her, made her remember the darkest moments of her life, amplified the pain, the guilty, all the bad sensation, he could tear her mind apart. Wasn’t Hell a place of punishment after all ?   
That whore of his mother got what he deserved for what she had done him and there she would burn until she didn’t apologize for her actions.  
But now ?  
She managed to escape, or better, Cade set her free to spite him for having used Verbis Diablo on Stefan and now his siblings knew he was alive and they were probably looking for him.

“Stupid old bastard, but I swear, you’ll die very soon. You’ll burn inside your own fucking Hell, old man”

He had the tendency of talking quite rude when he was furious, like in that case.   
Cade had no right to set his mother free, to reveal to his siblings that he was still alive. He didn’t want them to know, he didn’t want them to look for him, to find out what he had done, who he was now, what he become.   
He knew what she had told to them, she told them to look for Stefan.  
Stefan would lie to him, he knew it, the toddler better to lie, he owned him a favor. Multiple favors. Well, now Stefan wasn’t the first of his problems, he trusted him, he would defend their secrets, no matter what.   
Now, he had to think about their next moves. Sybil agreed with his proposal, she wanted her “husband” dead as they did.   
Who could blame her anyway ? She told him what she was planning to do to gain Cade’s trust and Henry asked her to give him two days before making Stefan going in Mystic Falls.  
Stefan was a Sinner Hunter but they both knew that Tyallah was coming there and no one would have been capable of defending themselves if Stefan wasn’t there.   
He was the only one who could defend… who could make sure that his right to be the one to kill his siblings remained his and his only. And also Stefan had two days to find out what kind of weapon Cade was creating to kill his brother. Whatever weapon was it, it had to be very strong if it could defeat an Original and Henry wanted to destroy it.   
So, Stefan had to steal it from Marcel and then hide it in a place where Cade couldn’t find it. The kitsune, Jun, would talk, another certain. Henry was cruel, but Stefan was the best at torturing people and made them talk.

“I do hope you won’t fail, Stefan. Our destiny depend on you” said Henry he said while he was enjoying the view of the sea of Miami.

…

Jun was smiling, or better smirking. She knew they were coming to her and she was impatient.   
Kitsunes were the best at hiding, and Jun had hide her “cave”. She used her magic to built a little house in the center of the woods and she used her magic to make it invisible. Only a kitsune with her Kyuubi or a Sinner hunter could see it. Any other creature who didn’t have a direct link with Hell couldn’t see it neither could perceive its presence, which it made the situation better.   
Without other distractions, they would be free to concentrate on their duel.   
Jun knew she would have to fight to defend the secrets of her owner, but she was older than all of them, she had all nine tales, her mantles was gold, like any yako.  
The yako were kitsunes who become wicked, who chose to be servants of Devil, who had bad intentions toward the others, but they were known better as nogitsune.   
She was also a kitsune of Forest, so the wood itself was the best battlefield to make the most of her powers. There was no way she could lost the fight.

“Kokode wa, shi, hantā o mitsukerudarou” she whispered with a cruel smirk (Here you will find death, hunter).

Of course she knew that she couldn’t kill Stefan Salvatore, but at least she would teach him an important lesson he would never forget. He would learn how to be obedient to Cade.  
She raised her eyes and she was the trio coming toward her. Stefan was leading the other two toward the her direction, probably he was perceiving the sins Jun was absorbing by other people.   
Stefan smirked when he finally saw her.  
Jun had to be a really strong kitsune if she could absorbs sins from that distance. Well, he couldn’t say he was going to get bored with her.   
Lexi didn’t share his optimism, she didn’t know what Stefan had in his little twisted mind to make Jun talk but she was sure she wasn’t going to like it.   
Eri instead was both thrilled and worried, because now she was noticing something about Jun’s nature that she should have noticed before.  
‘She’s a nogitsune, otōsan. She’s mean and we have to be careful”  
Stefan read her mind and nodded. He hoped that Jun didn’t know about his powers.  
He wasn’t a fool, he knew that fighting in the wood wasn’t deal for two vampires like him and Lexi, that was because he asked Eri to perform a protection spell on Lexi before coming here.

“Hello, my dears. You made me wait so much time. For a moment I thought you decided to run away from me” said Jun coming toward them.

“We are not cowards. We are here and we want answers and we won’t leave until we get what we wanted” said Stefan with confidence.

“I don’t know where all this confidence comes from, but I like it. I hope it will last during our fight. Are you ready ?” Jun asked rising her hands.

“We are” said Stefan.

“Speak for yourself. I still think it’s not a great idea” said Lexi taking off her jacket.

“Ika no jijitsu, meinu“ said Eri (Done under, bitch)

Stefan smiled, not caring to reproach her. Jun deserved to be insulted a little.  
Jun smirked, then she used her powers to make the roots of the surrounding tree grow.

“Phasmatos tribum, melan veras. Phasmatos tribum, melan veras”

They weren’t going to find any mercy in her.   
She started to point the roots against them, trying to make them pass through their useless body, but the two vampires were fast and easily avoided her attacks, the little kitsune instead burned the roots with her flames. So June started to make the branched grow too.

“Eri, I’m starting to feel a little cold” said Stefan avoiding the attacks from the branches.

‘I’ll hand that, otōsān’ thought Eri before setting on fire the nearest trees. She then created balls of fire and threw them at Jun.  
Jun used the branched of her tree to create a wing strong enough to turn off the balls.   
‘Pathetic’ she thought.  
Stefan smirked, she was pathetic. While Eri continued to create balls of fire and Jun was focused on turning them off, Lexi got closer enough to hit her in the face.  
Jun didn’t notice her, so she couldn’t defend herself.  
Lexi tried to punch her again, but Jun invoked her Kyuubi. A beautiful golden fox surrounded her and scratched Lexi on her arm.   
Jun was going to attack the blond vampire again but Lexi was fasted, she avoided her attack, grabbed her by her arm and hit Jun on her stomach with an elbow. While Jun was concentrated to defend herself by Lexy’s attacks, Stefan grabbed her by her shoulders and started to absorb the sins from her.  
A machine without gasoline was useless and weak, and was a kitsune. Jun set herself free from his grasp, then he hit him on the face with an elbow, grabbed Lexi by her neck and threw her against a branch.   
Eri destroyed the branch before it could hit Lexi mortally, while Stefan was fighting against Jun and her Kyuubi.  
Jun was athletic, rapid, agile, an excellent fighter. She grabbed Stefan by his through and held it tight.

“Why don’t you just give up ? It’ll be easier for both of us and maybe no one of your friends will die today” said Jun.

“You’ll love seeing me running away from you ah ?” Stefan set himself free from Jun’s grasp and succeeded to make her falling on the ground “But you’ll better talk before I decide to do something we’ll both regret”

“I don’t know what kind of girl do you think I am…” said Jun scratching Stefan’s face with her Kyuubi then hitting min in the stomach pushing him away from her “But whatever you think, you’re probably right”

“I think you’re an awful bitch, am I right too ?” asked Lexi before punching Jun in the face, grabbing her by her arm, hit her with an elbow on the stomach and managed on make her falling on the floor.

Jun grabbed her by her ankle and managed to make her fall on the ground too. Then Jun tried to hit Lexi on the face, but the vampire protected herself using her hands, then she grabbed Jun’s ankle and twisted it.   
Jun screamed, then she made the grasses grow and if Lexi hadn’t moved fast enough, she could have been suffocated.   
Then Eri burned the grass too but she didn’t notice that a branche was going to it her from behind. Fortunately, Stefan did, so he grabbed Eri fro her wrist and pushed her away.

“Pātonā to no” said Eri (thank you partner).

Stefan smiled. She always called him partner when he saved her during a fight. It was a nickname that remembered them that they had been partner before being father and daughter. It was true after all.  
Jun wasn’t the first big bad “villain” they fought together and they always got each other back when they had to fight against someone.   
‘I’ve enough of those amateurs’, Jun thought.   
She put an hand on the ground and then it started to trembling.

“She’s trying to cause and earthquake” Eri whispered.

“We have to stop her, or she would put in danger all the people who lived around here” said Lexi.

“Listen me up, girls. If I managed to absorb all the sins inside her with my bracelet she will remain without strengths and we can defeated. One of her ankle is hurt, this meant we have an advantage we have to use carefully”

“Okay, Eri have to create a diversion with her powers. Kitsunes can use normal spells right ?” asked Lexi.

“Yes, what are you thinking about ?” asked Stefan.

“Jun is apparently a kitsune of Forest. This is her battlefield, there she rules, but with a storm and thunders we can create a fire strong enough to destroy the forest around here.”

“It’s not a bad idea.” said Eri grabbed Stefan by his wrist and using his strength to absorbs as much sins as she could.

“Do you think you can do it ?” asked Stefan.

“Oh please, otōsan. I’m your best girl.” said Eri “Just, let me take your wrist”

Jun was concentrated on her spell, so she didn’t notice Lexi who hit her on her face.   
The kitsune was getting tired of the vampire, she avoided Lexi’s next attack, hitting the blond under her chin and then pushing her away from her.  
Her ankle was aching but the kitsune was using her powers to heal it.  
She grabbed Lexi’s wrist and started to absorb her pain.

“My my, little miss sunshine suffers more than she care to show.”

“What are you doing ?” asked Lexi.

“I’m absorbing your pain, honey. Who know if it will be more useful to you”

“Sorry to disappoint you, but you’re wrong again”

Lexi hit Jun on her nose with her head, then she grabbed the kitsune from her neck and then hit her forehead with her knee several times.  
Stefan grabbed Jun by her shoulders, starting to absorb her sins.

“Poor deluded fools, do you really think to be strong enough to defeat me ?” asked Jun.

Jun tried to use her powers to control the forest, but only now she noticed that it started to rain and that some thunders were hitting the tree around there, setting them on fire.  
’Nice move, but still not enough’.  
Apparently she was wrong when she believed to win that fight easily. Her opponents were proving more than capable of dealing with her powers, even if they were all younger than her. She was a strong kitsune, she had all the nine tails, so she was a demi-god, and because of this she was omniscient, she could see everything about everyone, their past, their present, their future, their darkest secrets, their sins, their fears. Everything.  
But neither her powers could have warned that she was going to have so much fun with that trio.   
She couldn’t say to be sad about it, she hadn’t have a fight interested and stimulating as this one for a long time. Finally someone who let her use all her powers.

“You all are going to die now” she said with a cruel laugh.

“What are you fucking talking about ?” asked Stefan who was still absorbing her pain.

But Jun didn’t answer. She concentrated on her Kyuubi and then she started to change, to turn herself into her for form.   
She fell on the floor and then she started to scream. It was always terribly painful when her body changed its form, but the situation required it.  
Her clothes got strapped, her hands and feet became paws, the features of her face were like a fox while all her nine tailed appeared.  
She was much bigger than a normal for, it was almost taller than Lexi and of course one bite or scratch from that beast could make them lose an art.   
The fox snarled, she moved her tails so quickly and fast to provoke a wing strong enough to turn off all the flames and to break some tree.  
The fox attacked the trio, trying to hit them with her tails, while with her powers she was restoring trees and grass destroyed by flames.   
  
_‘You cannot defeat me… You should have left a long time ago. Now it’s too late’_

Lexi, Stefan and Eri could feel Jun’s voice in their head. Suddenly, they started to believe in what she was saying.  
They tried to ignore her, to fight her voice, and while they were trying to protect their minds, the kitsune attacked them.  
She hit them with her tails, pushing away all of them, she ran toward them and then she attacked them with her claws.   
She managed to scratch Eri’s leg, Stefan’s abdomen and Lexi’s shoulders at once. Then she used three of her tails to attack them again, but Lexi, anger for the scratch, grabbed one of the tails and bite it with her fangs, while Stefan grabbed another and and did the same. Eri instead burn the other tail.

_’Stubborn idiots… you’re going to pay for this.’._

She used her power to make the branches grow and then she imprisoned the trio with them.  
Stefan knew that it wasn’t going to end well. Jun was stronger than anyone of them and they could never defeat her without using a little trick.  
Kitsunes were smart and deceptive but they had do be more if they hoped to survive.  
In that moment, Stefan got an idea.   
Jun knew they would have found her and somehow she was always several steps ahead of them, she knew or at least she suspected that he was going to absorbs her sins when he tried because kitsunes, strong kitsunes, were omniscient, they could see the future, so she could anticipate their move.  
Or at least, she could see the next moves of someone alive.  
Using all his strength, he got free from the branche, then, without thinking, he ran toward the animal.

_“Bad move vampire”_

Stefan totally agreed with her when she scratched him strong enough to penetrate his chest with her claws, killing him.   
Eri and Lexi gasped but they didn’t lose control. They knew he would come back alive eventually, it was one of the few positive aspects of being a Sinner Hunter.

“Good… minus one… you’re not going to survive longer…”

Suddenly all the trees started to get taller and so the grass, it was clear that the kitsune was preparing her last move.

_‘Goodbye my dears, I’m going to drag you all in Hell’_

…

Hayley was with her pack in the woods and they were preparing together some grenades with Werewolf venom.   
Hayley was really grateful to her pack for their support toward her and her family.   
Werewolves had all the right to hate Klaus and the Mikaelson family, specially after everything Klaus put them through, but they cared about her and her daughter and they wanted them to be safe and sound.   
Hayley promised to them that the next fight would be the last and then, if something bad happened, they would have to leave New Orleans, so that Marcel couldn’t hurt then in any way.   
Marcel proved to be the vindictive type and Hayley didn’t want her pack to suffer because of him again. She didn’t want Marcel to use the Crescent Curse on them again, specially after having experienced it herself. Being a werewolf was cool and being able to turn yourself into a wolf, running thought the wood, feeling powerful and strong was amazing, it made you feel free but the wolf form could become a prison when imposed. When it kept you from the ones you loved the most it became a living Hell.  
They all deserved to be happy.

“I hope everything’s going to be fine. I’m tired of dealing with vampires” said Kurt who had just finished to prepare another grenade.

“Me too. I’m sorry you all’ve been involved in this situation. Bad decisions had been made five years ago and now we all are paying the consequences.” said Hayley.

“Don’t misunderstand us. We don’t blame you. You don’t know but the Crescent pack still hold grudge against Marcel for having cursed us. We don’t fight for you or your family, not only at least, but for our freedom too.” said Kurt putting the grenade inside a bag.

“Marcel has to pay for what he has done to all of us. His pain blinds his judgment and I understand it, but yesterday… you had to see him Kurt. He looked more insane than normal”

“And this say everything. There are a lot of rumors in New Orleans recently. I heard that Marcel is losing his mind, drinking a lot, that his vampires sometimes heard him talking to someone while they are sure that there is anyone else in the same room with him. They say that he looks like possessed”

“Wow, well, he did look possessed yesterday night. He looked like a trebling zoombie, it seemed like he was the first who had no idea of what he was doing or saying. It worried me, a lot.”

Kurt didn’t answer, he just started to prepare another grenade. Hayley was going to do the same, when suddenly a great sound caught their attention.

“What was that ?” asked Hayley looking around.

They were sitting at the outside, with the other members of the pack and they all heard that strange sound. Where it came from ? What was that ?   
‘It seemed like an explosion’ Hayley thought standing up.  
Then she saw the smoke and she realized that somewhere the forest was burn.

“I want to check out what’s going on. I see the smoke and I don’t like. Someone has put the fire on”

“A witch, there there’s a storm too. I saw the thunders. How could it be possible ? It doesn’t rain here” said Kurt.

“You’re right. Another reason to go there. I want to be sure that no one of us is in danger. Let’s go”

Kurt nodded, then he followed Hayley in the woods. Hayley didn’t grow up in a pack, so she couldn’t recognize what kind of creature was responsible for that storm, but Kurt did.  
He had already met a kitsune once in his life, he could recognize their magic anywhere and he could feel their presence.  
There were two kitsunes, two foxes that he had to be stopped before they set the entire wood on fire and doing even worst.

…

Stefan was observing the entire scene as spirit. He knew he had to be fast but he had only one chance and he had to use it well.   
He knew that kitsune old as Jun were difficult to defeat or kill, but fortunately, having a kitsune for daughter was helpful to learn a lot of tricks to use against them. He looked around him and he saw that the little house near there hadn’t been destroyed during the fight. That meant that that house had been built by Jun by using her powers, so it was her cave and there was the high possibility that he could find her Star ball in there.  
The Star Balls were crystal spheres where kitsune put some of their power into. Destroying or draining one or more of these balls weakened the kitsunes.  
As spirit, Stefan could enter in the house without being seen and Jun couldn’t prevent his intentions because she could only see the future decisions of living creatures. He entered inside the house and he noticed that there was only one room, with a bad, an wooden wardrobe, a desk with one chair and a broken vase on the floor. Jun had given the room a daunting look, probably to discourage anyone to enter inside there.   
’Smart, but not smart enough’, Stefan thought.  
He opened the wardrobe and he saw it was empty, a part from a media sized coffer.   
‘Jackpot’ Stefan thought opening the coffer and seeing the Star Balls inside.   
He knew they would be there.   
Kitsunes had the tendency of being paranoid when it came with their Star Balls, that was why the balls were always kept near them.  
Not exactly smart in this case. There were eight Star Balls in the coffer, Stefan noticed counting them.

“Not for much longer. I’m going to destroy all of them”

As any spirits he shouldn’t have been able to touch objects, but when you died, you got the power to move objects and if you died enough time you learnt hot to touch them too.   
And he did, one after one, he destroyed all the balls, He took them and kept them in his hands, so tight until they became nothing more than ashes and useless pieces.   
He could know that his plan was working while he started to heard, after having broken the fourth ball, that the kitsune out there was screaming in pain.  
There were a lot of strange noises out there, the noise of something that was repeatedly hit, probably by the kitsune’s tail.   
Stefan took the last balls and he hidden it under the bed. Not original, but he didn’t have much time and he wanted to defeat Jun once and for all.   
He went out the house and he came closer to his body. He noticed that his plane worked even better than he had expected, not only the fox was in the midst of great suffering but Eri and Lexi had been able to set themselves free from the branches.   
‘Good, it’s the time for my last move’  
Then his spirit came back into his body and the vampire came back alive.   
If dying was painful, coming back alive was almost too simple, fortunately. It was like waking up in the morning, after a weird dream, too real to be just a dream, too surreal to be true.

_“So you’re back now, you piece of scum… I’m going to kill you over and over again… only to see you suffer any time and then…”_

“Stop with your stupid threats Jun! I’ve still have one of your ball and if you don’t promise me to stop to hurt us and tell me everything you know, I swear, I will break it and then you’ll die”

_“How do you dare threatening me ?”_

“I give you three seconds, then you’ll have to promise me what I requested. One...”

_“I don’t obey to you. Only to Cade…”_

“Two…”

_“You wouldn’t dare…”_

Stefan smirked cruelty, revealing that glint of Devil inside his eyes that he got after all that time being a Sinner Hunter.   
A part of him hoped that Jun would ignore his threat and decided to do something stupid like trying to attack him again. She would give him a reason to brake the last ball and let her die forever.   
Another part, the good part of him, hoped it wouldn’t be necessary. He knew himself better than anyone, he knew he would brake that stupid ball if June decided to ignore his threats.  
Stefan knew he was cruel enough to kill Jun in front of his museum and his best friend and he knew he would enjoy it and apparently Jun understood it too.  
She could feel the darkness inside his heart and see the cruelty and the sadism growing inside his eyes.   
She knew he was only waiting for an act of disobedience from her to kill her.  
He had been smart, smarten than she could have ever thought.   
He also ordered to her to promise him to tell the truth. He knew how to kill a kitsune.   
When a kitsune made a promise and then broke it, she or her suffered a deterioration in his or her rank and power, sometime he or she could also die.   
So, if she didn’t promise to tell the truth, he would destroy her last star ball and then she would die, if she did and then tried to deceive him, she would die anyway.  
In any case, he would win.   
Aware of her defeat, she surrendered.

_“I promise”_

Then she came back in her human form, the trees and the grass around there came back to their normal size.   
Lexi and Eri shared a look. They were exhausted and while the wound on Lexi’s body were healing thanks to her supernatural regenerative capacities, Eri didn’t have the same luck and she still felt the pain due to the bruises and the scratches.   
They were happy the fight was over anyway, they didn’t think they could have resist any longer against the older kitsune.  
Eri was positive impressed by her otōsan’s idea. She knew he had a plan, he would never have been so stupid to be so careless during a fight.   
No, she understood that he had something in his mind and that it would have worked.  
Lexi admitted that she should have trusted Stefan’s judgment more in the future. She thought he had lost his mind when he let Jun killing him that way, but then she remember that he could come back alive and she also noticed that he was smirking too much while he was dying.

“Impressive” she whispered.

“Start to talk” ordered Stefan to Jun, showing her the Star Ball.

“Cade sent me here to create a weapon strong enough to kill all the Original family. This weapon is made by Marcel’s blood, which is mortal for an Original vampire and by the wood of a tree that is in the center of Hell. With that weapon Cade is going to kill all the vampires forever”

“What ? I thought he wanted vampires to exist”

“Not anymore. The Devil has planning something much bigger. He’s planning another Fire, my dear Hunter”

Stefan’s heart lost a beast. So soon ? It hadn’t passed much time since the last Fire, why was Cade planning another one so soon ? And why killing all the vampires ?

“But why all the vampires ?”

“The vampires will be just the beginning. The werewolves and the witches will follow their doom soon. So that his Hunters will be the only kind of supernatural creatures alive and Cade won’t have anyone capable to stop him. He’s planning to take the Hell in earth”

“How ?”

“I’m sorry but I don’t know. He didn’t tell me everything. I can’t answer this question”

“Fine. What kind of weapon will I have to steal from Marcel ?”

“Oh… but that weapon is not for Marcel. Cade made a deal with someone, a long time ago. Another Hunter but I know who he or she is but I know that Cade promised him or her a strong weapon to use for vendetta. And… for answer your question… The weapon is made by Marcel’s blood, it would be a sort of dagger or stake”

“I have just one more question, then you’ll have to go and never come back again.”

“What do you want to know ?” asked Jun cooly

“Why is Tyallah coming here in New Orleans ?” asked Stefan.

He needed to know it. Stefan was convinced that her arrival wasn’t a coincidence, that there had to be a reason. There were a lot of reasons to him to think that it was Cade who had sen Tyallah there, in New Orleans. Henry also told him that the last time he communicated with Tyallah through telepathy she was in London, which meant that she wasn’t even in America.   
No, she was an Huntress, she killed sinners as he did, but she was also a servant of Cade and if the Devil ordered the murder of someone all his Hunters had to obey to him without any objections.

“Cade ordered her to come here and kill a certain Freya Mikaelson”

“What ?”

A female voice made jumped everyone there. Stefan, Lexi and Eri turned around to see Hayley together with another young man, who were coming closer to them.  
The female werewolf was looking at them with concern and confusion, probably she was trying to understand who was the woman with them.  
Probably she perceived the presence of a kitsune, she was a werewolf she could do it and she had certainly heard the last thing Jun reveled to them. That wasn’t good, Stefan’s biggest fear was that she could misunderstand the entire situation and probably think that Jun was one of his friends or an ally.  
Stefan couldn’t see how, the scratch on his body still had to heal and the ones on Lexi and Eri.   
Jun wasn’t in better conditions, having lost all her Star Balls had weakened her a lot. Even standing up for her was a challenge since her legs were trembling and all her wounds was still bleeding.  
If Hayley decided to hunt her down, she had very few possibilities to be able to escape. If she got captured, there were high possibilities that she could reveal the truth about him and that was a risk Stefan wasn’t willing to take.  
Jun promised not to hurt them and if she didn’t keep her words she would die, Stefan didn’t promise anything and apart of him was cruel enough to be selfish and do one of the most terrible things of his life.  
He could bet that both Cade and the Ripper would be proud of him.   
And then it was, another sign of his cruelty, he took the last Star Ball from his jacket pocket and let it fallen on the ground, trying not to be noticed by Hayley.  
He complied his goal, but Jun saw her last Star Ball fell on the ground and she knew what was coming, she was going to die, to burn in Hell.  
She was a sinner after all, there wouldn’t be forgiveness for her and Stefan wasn’t going to be punished for her death. No, Cade would be please to know what his Prodigal Son had done to one of the most loyal of his kitsunes.  
Because it didn’t matter how much loyal you are to a Devil, he wasn’t obliged to be loyal to you at the same way.   
‘I’m sorry…’, that was the last thing his opponent told her before dying.   
Eri observed the entire scene with wide eyes. She didn’t know Jun well, and surely she couldn’t say to feel sympathy for the older kitsune, but it wasn’t easy seeing someone of her kind dying in that way.  
But she understood why her otōsan did it, even if she didn’t agree with it, at all. It could be avoided, they could have found another way.  
Hayley saw Jun falling on the ground, death, without understand what was happening.

“Is she death ?” she asked.

“We fought, Hayley. Eri felt the presence of one of her kind and we looked for her. But she attacked us.” answered Stefan.

“We tried to defend ourselves and in the end we defeated her. We promised not to kill her in change of informations about why she was there but her wounds were too serious and she died. We can’t do anything for her anymore” said Eri coming closer to Jun and closing her eyes, so she looked like she was sleeping.

“We have to bury her. I don’t want to leave her this way” said Lexi kneeling next to Jun’s corpse.

“We’re going to help you, but then we have to come home with me and Kurt. I heard the last thing she wold you and I didn’t like it. If she told you something else about my family I want to know it.” said Hayley coming closer to the kitsune too.

“You also have to cure that wounds. The wounds procured by a kitsune don’t heal easily, not matter what kind of creature you are.” said Kurt.

The other agreed with him, then Hayley and Kurt helped the trio to give a worthy burial to the kitsune. Eri explained to them that Jun was a kitsune of forest, so there couldn’t be a better burial for her than a wood, where she would belong for the eternity.  
Then Hayley invited them to go home with her, so that their wounds could be cured and they could tell her what they had found out by Jun.   
She also sent a message to Klaus telling him to come back home.  
Whatever Jun told Stefan about Freya, Klaus needed to know too. 


	19. Vow  of Silence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stefan has committed a terrible mistake, he killed someone who he wasn't suppose to kill and now Cade's trying to manipulate and take control over his mind by taking advantages of his doubts about who he became and what he's capable of.  
> Cade imposes to Stefan to lie to Klaus, in the hope to encourage a distance between them.  
> Will Stefan obey to him ? Or will he find the courage to tell Klaus all the truth ?

CHAPTER 19

 

Stefan had no idea how this could have happened. The morning didn’t start in the better way, since he had spent it looking for a kitsune who was waiting for him only to humiliate him and hurt his friends; the afternoon wasn’t better, he had died and had wounds all over his body because of his fight against the kitsune and apparently the evening wasn’t going to be better either.   
He was sitting on the expensive couch inside the Mikaelson’ home, waiting for Klaus to come back home with someone of his siblings.   
Elijah, who was currently talking with Hayley, told them that Klaus left to look for him but he couldn’t say why. Stefan could only imagine what Klaus wanted to talk about with him, surely not about their last dream, since he had taken his siblings with him when he left. Stefan was convinced that Klaus had all the intentions of talking about Henry, his youngest brother.  
Stefan didn’t want it to, even if he already knew what he was, or better, not suppose to say.   
He was protected, the originals couldn’t use their compulsion on him, they couldn’t hurt him, or kill him. It didn’t matter what they could do, he always had the upper hand.   
Stefan closed his eyes, he really had to stop to think in that way, as the entire situations was a sort of competition between him and the rest of the world. He didn’t have to prove to anyone he was the strongest one, he didn’t have to prove he wad the most dangerous monster of them all, he didn’t have to since he had already had.   
He killed Jun and he shouldn’t have. He could have found another way to fix the mistake he made. Jun wasn’t innocent, but she didn’t have to die in that way, not because he needed to protect his secret.

‘You can’t keep your secret anymore Dad’

Stefan turned toward his musume, who had communicated with him through her thoughts. He knew she was right. He couldn’t keep a secret that pushed him to kill.   
He couldn’t save Klaus’ soul if his own soul was the first to be pushed right inside the Hellflames. He couldn’t save Klaus from Hell, if Stefan was the first to behave like Cade. He had to change, he had to stop to kill to protect himself.   
Cade warned him, Sinner Hunters had the horrible tendency of forgetting what they killed for, they did it their whole life, they took lives and suddenly it became nothing more than habit, like lunch or combing hair.   
He had to stop it, he had to remember why he kept going it, and he had to tell Klaus the truth.   
Running away was senseless and useless at that point.  
A little punch in his side by Eri snapped him by his thoughts.

“Sorry… what.. who…”

“I simply asked if you wants some blood, Stefan, but you were distracted” said Hayley who put an hand on Stefan’s shoulder.

“Oh no… I don’t… I don’t drink human blood and I’m not hungry”

It was a lie, of course. He was hungry to death, especially after his fight against Jun, but he was also sure that Hayley wasn’t going to offer him animal blood and he couldn’t think about a better explanation in that moment.   
Hayley looked at him with curiosity and suspicious, it was clear like the sunlight that she didn’t believe him.  
‘Klaus’s right about him… He lies but he’s definitely not a good liar’.  
That was what Hayley thought about him in that moment and Stefan had to force not smirk. He was tired of being treated like a criminal and being constantly under interrogatory. He wish he was a better liar in that moment.

“I don’t drink human blood. Me and my friend are going to hunt after. We both drink animal blood” explained Stefan forcing a gentle smile.

“Yes, I don’t drink human blood and I taught him to do the same.” said Lexi with politeness.

“You are the first vampires who tell something like that” commented Kurt looking at them, not believing a word “How could you expect to hunt even a squirrel in that conditions ? You fought a kitsune and I know that the wounds provoked by a fox are hard and slow to heal, not matter what kind of supernatural creature you are”

“I can help with this. I can absorb their pain so the wound will heal faster” said Eri grabbing both Lexi and Stefan’ hands and starting to absorb their pain.

“Oh God, you’re a kitsune too !!” said Kurt looking at Eri with surprise.

“Yes, she’s a kitsune and she’s is his daughter” said Hayley pointing at Stefan “She’s not going to be a trouble and no one of the pack will hurt her”

Kurt nodded, eve if it was clear he wasn’t glad about Eri’s presence.   
Stefan would rip him apart if that dickhead dared to hurt his musume. He would turn his little weak body in pieces, in a piece of heart worthy of Hannibal Lecter.   
He could already feel his blood on his hands, all over his clothes, on his face, he could feel his hands ripping apart his libs… Such a beautiful fantasy.   
No, he had to stop himself. He was going to hunt tonight, he would satisfied his lust for dead and violence, now he only had to resist not to mess things up more than they already were.

“When will Klaus arrive ?” asked Stefan trying to change subject.

“He’s on the way. Why ? Do you feel safer if he’s here ? Are you afraid we can hurt you ?” asked Hayley mocking him.

“No, I just want to know. We fought yesterday, we haven’t made up yet and the first conversation we are going to have after that is about someone whose has intentions of killing his sister”

“Yeah, about this, how did you find the kitsune ? Did you know her ?” asked Elijah peering them with his dark eyes.

“It’s me who asked my otōsan to look for her. We kitsunes could feel when someone of our kind is near. Unfortunately I haven’t the fortune to meet someone of my kind for a long time and I considered it a great opportunity. I wanted to know something about me and my powers.” answered Eri before Stefan could say something.

Lexi remained silent, glad that Eri decide to take the situation in her hands. Stefan was a bad liar and it was clear that no Hayley or Elijah were going to believe to any of his words.  
Eri, on the other hand, was a kitsune, a liar by nature, she would handle this situation better than her or Stefan himself.  
Elijah was a cunning guy and perceptive, a lot. As any original vampire he could feel when someone was lying but it seemed that the kitsune was telling the truth, apparently. Elijah felt frustrated about it and he decided in that moment to do more research about kitsune, to understand how strong their powers could be, what they could do, or become and how they could be defeated.  
He observed the wounds on the bodies of Lexi, Stefan and Eri, and even though the kitsune was absorbing their pain, the wounds were still bleeding slightly and were healing really slowly.  
He wandered if an original vampire could heal easier by the wound of a kitsune.

“And why did she attack you ?” asked Elijah.

“Kitsunes and vampires are natural enemies. She saw Lexi and my otōsan with me, she thought we were going to hurt her. She thought we worked for Marcel, the Beast.”

“Did she knew Marcel ?” asked Elijah surprised.

“She was here to spy him, actually” said Lexi “She said that she was here because someone asked her to control Marcel. Apparently Marcel had a weapon that can kill any creatures, not matter how ancient or strong it is, and someone wants it.” said Lexi.

Stefan smiled. Lexi had just launched the bait, smart girl, she was his idol.   
Now Hayley and Elijah would consider Jun an enemy, and also they would know that someone else was threatening their family, someone they didn’t know but at least they would try to defend themselves and also they would stop to worry about Stefan and his secrets for a while.   
Maybe he was a coward, maybe he was running away, but he didn’t want to tell the truth to anyone, he couldn’t, he imposed himself to take the secret with him in his tomb.

_“I imposed you this silence, my pleasure”_

Stefan bitted his lower lip, he hated hearing Cade’s voice in his head and this remembered him that he should asked Eri to use the Verbis Diablo on them again.   
More protection he put between the Devil and him and more safer he would feel. But he was right, Cade imposed him this silence with violence.   
Hayley was going to ask another question when suddenly the door opened and Klaus, Rebekah, Freya and Kol entered inside.  
Stefan, who could say to have learnt to recognize Klaus’ facial expression pretty well at this point, could say that Klaus was simply furious with him and the only reason why the blond hadn’t already attacked him it was Eri’s presence.   
Klaus had all reasons to be mad, he had spent all day looking for Stefan. He looked for the toddler everywhere, at his house, in the Church, he and his siblings had put New Orleans upside down and uselessly. He was coming back home anyway when Hayley called him telling him that she found Stefan in the woods, hurt after being attacked by a kitsune and then he had found out something about someone who had bad intentions toward his family.  
Maybe it was only his anger, but something inside him, was suggesting that it wasn’t a casualty. He didn’t know what kind of explanations Stefan gave to Hayley and Elijah to justify his previously encounter with the kitsune but Klaus knew he couldn’t complete trust him.  
He didn’t know why but he could always feel when Stefan was telling him a lie. It was a sensation that grew inside his chest and grew at any single words from the other. As an Original vampire, he usually knew when someone was trying to deceive him but with Stefan was different, it was a sort of knowledge that didn’t admit any doubts.   
‘I’m so curious to know what kind of lies he’s going to say’ Klaus thought.  
While Klaus was brooding about the situations, Stefan could hear the other’s thoughts about him.  
’So it’s him… Klaus has at least good taste about boys… Where did I see him?’ Rebekah thought.  
‘I hope mother’s right about him, even if I can’t understand how this toddler can be useful to find Henrik’, Kol thought.  
‘I’m going to kill him if he doesn’t help us’ Freya thought.

“Hello Stefan. I hope you feel good enough for a little chat”

That was the first thing Klaus told him looking at him with his icy eyes.   
Stefan didn’t look down, he wasn’t scared of Klaus, he wasn’t scared of anyone of them.

“I’m fine. You have being treating me like a criminal under interrogatory since the first day we met.” said Stefan with his coldest voice of tone.

But then he recognized someone. He had already seen one of the blond girl, Rebekah. They have met during the roaring twenties in Chicago. They, she kissed him, but he told her he wasn’t interested in girls, but they spent a lot of time together. They danced, together, various times.   
And Rebekah remembered him as well.

“Oh my God… Nik, why didn’t you tell me that Stefan was your new boyfriend ?” she asked hugging Stefan tight.

“What ? Do you know him ?” asked Klaus.

“Nik, you know him too. I introduced you two the first time in Chicago. Don’t you remember ?”

It was obvious, from their facial expressions, that both Klaus and Stefan had no idea what she was talking about. The two boys shared a look.   
Had they already met each other ? Seriously ? How couldn’t they remember ?   
Stefan was stunned. Klaus wasn’t a person easy to forget once you met him. And he was his soul to save. How could Stefan have forgot his soul to save ?   
Eri looked at him and she asked him through her mind ‘Is it true ?’.  
Stefan didn’t know it. Rebekah sounded really convinced of what she was saying and if she was lying, Stefan would have felt. Lying was a sin and he could feel a sin.

“No. Are sure ?” asked Klaus stunned and confused.

“I remember about you Rebekah. We danced, we laughed…”

“I kissed you” said Rebekah without any embarrassment “Before to understand I wasn’t your type. But you had been so kind with me that we became friends anyway. Then I introduced you to Nik, I thought he really needed friends and I was right. You were like buddies in the twenty. You spent a lot of time together. You were inseparable !”

Stefan had no doubt she was saying the truth. But the story she was telling, it seemed nothing more than a story, a fairytale. He and Klaus had met, they became friends and spent a lot of time together, Friends… How could they be friend ?   
He and Klaus had been hostile toward each other the first time they met and now their relationship wasn’t going well, if it could be considered a relationship. Stefan lied to him, Klaus knew it and they fought for it constantly.   
He had to control his journals, he looked at his musume and he had to talk with her too. Maybe she remembered something he didn’t.   
He was going to ask something else when the brunette boy interrupted him, annoyed by their conversation.

“Yeah well, we are not here to assist at one of your lover quarrel, we are here because someone told you are the only way we have to find our little brother, Henrik. Care to explain ?” asked Kol harshly.

“Never heard this name in my life and I don’t even think that this should be your priority right here right now. I’m here because I’ve to tell you something”

So Stefan told them everything, changing some relevant details. He told them how they found Jun thanks to Eri’s help, that Jun despised vampires and wanted them death and that they were making her waste her time. She threatened them to kill them and torture them to gain informations about Marcel and his new weapon. After that, Stefan proposed her to fight against them. If they won, she would have told them everything she knew, if they lost, she would kill them.

“In the end, we managed to defeat her but her wounds were too serious. She had just had time to tell us that someone wants the weapon Marcel has. She also said that the same person who asked her to spy Marcel was the same who had sent someone here in New Orleans to kill Freya”.

“Wait… someone wants to kill me ?” asked Freya stunned.

“Yes, she said her name, a certain Tanya or…”

“Actually it was Tyallah. She said this name” Lexi corrected him.

“Tyallah ? What kind of name is it ?” asked Bekah.

“I don’t think that her name is the main of our problems. This girl, whoever or whatever she is, is coming here to kill one of us, now that we are in the center of a war already.” said Elijah.

“Not to speak about the fact that the new about this super weapon has already spread. It won’t take long before someone else would come here for the weapon” said Kol.

“Did Jun tell when Tyallah is going to arrive ?” asked Klaus.

Stefan, Lexi and Eri shared looks, pretending to try to remember what Jun told them.   
They had to look convincing.

“Jun told that Tyallah will be here in time to kill Freya before the your fight against Marcel. Whoever sent her here, he or she knows about your war against the Beast. Jun has done an excellent job spying all of you. This person knows when you will be more vulnerable and maybe will try to attack all of you, including Marcel during your fight” answered Stefan.

“If she has been so good spying Marcel, did she tell you what kind of weapon Marcel has ?” asked Freya.

“If this weapon truly exists. Really, I wish the kitsune was still alive to interrogate her properly. How did you manage to defeat her ?” asked Rebekah.

“Thanks to Eri. Mind to explain them my little kitsune ?” said Stefan kissing Eri forehead.

Klaus threw his gaze. How convenient for the toddler let his daughter talking at his place. Eri was a kitsune, she was a deceptive creature and Klaus trusted her even less. He had nothing against the little ginger, but he knew she was loyal to her father and if she had to lie to protect him she would do it, as any daughters would do for theirs father.

“She was strong and she had powers. She was a kitsune of forest and she attacked us with trees, grass, she used the forest to attack us. I created a little storm to burn down the forest around us. Then both my father and Lexi kept her still, so I could absorb all the pain and the sins she had absorbed first. Pain, caos, sins are the petrol that makes us stronger, without them we are weak. That is why she couldn’t heal properly from her wounds.” said Eri.

“And is this the only way to kill you of you ?” asked Elijah.

“I’m not going to answer. I don’t see the necessity” answered Eri with aggressiveness.

“Well you must answer !! Who knows if someone else of your kind will come here for the weapon ? We have to be ready to defend ourself !!” said Elijah raising his voice.

“Low your voice, I don’t allow you to talk this way to my musume” said Stefan standing up and letting Eri’s hand.

His wounds had not healed completely yet, maybe Elijah would defeat him easily, but he didn’t care. No one could talk that way to his musume in front of him.   
Kol growled inside. If the toddler kicked his older brother in his ass he would helped him, since he hadn’t had the chance to do it himself yet for killing Davina, but now it wasn’t the time.  
The toddler told them everything they needed to know, now they could talk about something more important to him.

“It’s not time for fighting. We know now that we have another threat to face so I don’t see point in fighting against each other now. All I care now is knowing if this infant can truly help us finding Henrik” said Kol.

“I said I’ve never heard this name in my life”

Klaus blinked. Stefan was telling the truth.   
Stefan smiled inside, when he met the youngest of the Mikaelson for the first time, he introduced himself ad Henry and he had never used his former name, so lying was easier in that case.

“And then why our mother told us you’re the only one who can actually help us finding him ?” asked Kol who was getting angry.

“I don’t know. I have a brother maybe she referred of him, not me”

“She also said that this person was already in New Orleans.” said Freya.

“I’m sorry. I know what means staying away from your family for a long time. I haven’t been seeing my brother for a long time and I miss him and I would everything to know he’s okay, but I can’t help you.”.

_'Good, Stefan. Keep in this way. I don’t want them to know'_

Stefan blinked, knowing at least that he was doing the right thing.  
If Henry didn’t want to be found by his family, who was him to sabotage his intentions. But apparently no one of them believed him. He understood it by their thoughts, the glances they shared, the doubts clear like dawn inside their eyes.   
It was time to go. He was angry and he was tired.

“If we have finished, we want to go home. I think me and my family have been involved enough in your conflicts. If you want to talk about something relevant with me, you know where I live”

Ignoring all the complains of the others around him, he grabbed the hands of Eri and Lexi and came toward the door. He was done with those people, he just wanted to go home, but of course things couldn’t be simple as he wanted them to be.  
Klaus didn’t hesitate to follow him outside the house.

“I’m coming with you. I can understand you don’t want to talk with my brothers but you own me an explanation” said Klaus closing the door behind his back.

Stefan made sign to Lexi and Eri to go ahead, so he could have more privacy with Klaus to talk about whatever the blond wanted to talk with him.   
Stefan was exhausted, he was thirsty and he just wanted to go home, where he could put order in his mind.  
Killing Jun, the cruelty behind his act, had torn him. Really. It didn’t matter that Jun was a sinner like all his previous victims, she wasn’t suppose to die, he didn’t kill her as a Sinner Hunter, but as a stupid dumb guy who proved to be capable of kill to protect his deepest secret from the world. He had been selfish and cruel and heartless and he wanted only spend sometime alone with himself.

“What do you want to know from me ? If you’re here to talk about Chicago, I can swear on Eri that I…”

“Avoid to swear on her. I believed when you said that you didn’t remember about me. I don’t remember about you either, so I will directly speak with Bekah about it.”

“Then what ?”

“The dream. I want to know why do you treat yourself like this”

“Like what ?”

“Like an animal in gage. Why do you let your past mistakes torture you like that ? Why can’t you let the Ripper go ? Why can’t you move on ?”

“Because I can’t. I need him as a constant reminder of what I’m capable of doing. The bloodlust took control over me once, I was a monster and Lexi saved me” said Stefan looking at Lexi who was walking hand in hand with Eri.

  
“The blond girl over there ?” asked Klaus looking at Lexi,

“Yes, she helped me. She’s a vegetarian vampire, like me and she’s… the only family I’ve left. She comes to visit me, sometimes.”

“I see she’s special to you. Do you lie to her as you lie to me ?” asked Klaus with a little grudge.

Klaus needed to know. He needed to know the truth. He needed to know if Stefan only lied to him, to himself or to anyone else too.

“Klaus… I…”

“You said that the kitsune die because of the gravity of her wounds, you lied. No… let me talk…” said Klaus when Stefan opened his mouth to reply “I know when you lie. I can feel it. It’s strange but it was… like the Ripper said yesterday. He said he could feel my faults, and I could notice that you got what he meant. Well, in the same way, I can feel when you lie.”

“You’re an original vampire. You can always tell when someone’s lying”

“With you is different. With you everything is different. With the others I’m never sure, with you… I have no doubts at all. And this scares me sometimes, because it makes me feel that you are different for me”

Stefan stopped for a moment, closing his eyes and passing an hand through his messy hair. He was tired of lying too, it was becoming an insufferable situation for him too. Klaus had no idea of how much better he would be if he could say the truth, but he couldn’t. It would be too… He didn’t even want to think about it.

“Klaus… if I admit I’m lying to you… can you trust me knowing that I’m doing it to keep you safe ?”

Klaus blinked, he didn’t expect this actually. He thought that Stefan would have denied everything, that he would have called Klaus paranoid, instead the toddler was admitting, for once, his own faults.   
A decade ago, Klaus would have thought about a revenge against the toddler already, but now he only wanted to understand.   
He wanted to understand from what Stefan was trying to protect him.

“Why can’t you tell me the truth ?” he asked again.

_'Because you’re not allowed to. Because I order you not to tell him the truth'_

Cade’s voice in his head was firm, cold, bossy. Stefan couldn’t do anything else but obey it.   
The Devil was in his mind, he was controlling it, the bracelet around his wrist was burning and Stefan couldn’t ignore it.

“I made a vow of silence, I’m sorry”

“A silence imposed by violence I’m sure. You look frightening.”

Stefan avoided to look the blond in the eyes. Apparently his fear had to be really obvious in his eyes and Klaus couldn’t see it.   
The blond understood more than he should have already and Cade forbidden him to tell the truth. And when the Devil ordered you something, you had to obey, without hesitations. Stefan belonged to Cade, it was difficult to accept but it was the truth, he would belong to Cade until he had his bracelet around his wrist. It was his personal damnation.  
Without noticing, Stefan looked at the bracelet, and Klaus followed his gaze. The blonde gently grabbed Stefan’s wrist and looked the bracelet.

“This is not a gift from a lover, isn’t it ?”

“No.”

“It didn’t belong to your father” said Klaus as it was a certain.

Stefan nodded. There was no point in lying in that moment. Klaus would never believe him if he could feel so clear when he was lying. The silence was his best ally in that moment.  
An imposed silence by the Devil would help him to stop him from saying truths he would kill or die for.   
So he remained silence, again.

_'Stefan… I know you can still make me proud of you… You’ve already done… You killed a kistune… You show the murderer you really are and you were beautiful… Remain silence, don’t tell him the truth'_

“Who give you the bracelet ?” asked Klaus.

“I can’t tell you… He said I’m making him proud… He’s proud of me…”

Stefan needed to control himself, he was acting crazy but he couldn’t stop himself. It was the first time Cade told him he was proud of him, his Prodigal Son, the Rebel, the troublemaker…  
Cade had never been disappointed by Stefan, he was one of his best Sinner Hunter, but now Cade told him he was proud. Something never happened before, something that Stefan hadn’t been told by another person for long time.

_'In the name of the Father… Stefan… obey, remember your vow of silence'_

“Who is proud of you ?” asked Klaus.

At that point, Stefan knew that he couldn’t say anything more, Klaus would be more determinate to know the truth and Stefan couldn’t speak with him.  
Father had been clear, he was controlling his mind, and Stefan was nothing more than a marionette with the strings up.

“Go home… go home and don’t look for me tonight” said Stefan using compulsion on Klaus.

Klaus blinked, waiting for the moment when his body would start to obey to Stefan and not to him anymore, but it didn’t happen. Klaus didn’t want to go home and he would probably look for Stefan tonight.  
Stefan smiled, happy for the piece of truth he could give to Klaus.

“See ? My compulsion doesn’t work with you”

For the first time that day, Klaus smiled and then he kissed him.

…

Damon was waiting at the center of the Wickery Bridge with Enzo at his side. Enzo hadn’t said a word all day, he looked absent, like under the effect of drugs. Whoever did it to him, had to be really strong and Damon wanted to see her in face and rip the heart out of her chest.  
No one treated in that way Enzo and got away with it.  
The unknown woman was also late.

“I hope for you I won’t have to wait for you any much longer lady or I swear I’m going to…”

“Are you going to what ?” asked a female voice behind him.

And then Damon froze up in that moment. He would recognize that voice everywhere and forever. That voice that once penetrated his mind and controlled him, reducing him to a nothing more than a puppet, a dog, a slave, without free will.  
That woman, that demon, she had been his ruin and she would be the death of him.  
Damon turned behind and looked at the woman. She looked exactly as he remembered her.   
Mischievous smile, evil eyes, the body of a goddess and the heart of a monster. The last time he saw her he wished not to see her ever again,

“Good evening Sybil. Long time no see” he said, trying to control the fury that was threatening to flare up inside his chest.

In that moment he could only thing about one thing… Revenge.   
Revenge for what Sybil had taken from him, his freedom, his free will, for having manipulated him, used him, abused of his mind, his thoughts, using his own fears against him.  
But most of all, he hated her and want her to suffer for having taking away from him his little brother. The innocent little brother, the good decent part of him, the only person, inside his family, who loved him for who he was, who didn’t want him to be any different.   
His father was abusive, his mother’d never appreciated him. Stefan instead… Well, it wasn’t the moment to brood over his regrets.

“What do you want ?” asked Damon almost growling.

The veins appeared around his eyes, the fangs got out and he was ready to attack her.  
Sybil knew his intention, but she wasn’t scared. She was more powerful than Damon, and more determinate to maintain her freedom.

“Good evening, lover. You’re rude as I remembered. Are you so cruel and angry to want to hurt me ?” asked Sybil pretending to be afraid.

“You know I am. Taking away my brother from me wasn’t enough ? Now are you threatening the people around me too ? Why ? What do you want from me again ?” asked Damon frustrated.

“From you ?” asked Sybil beginning to laugh “Damon, you’re so narcissistic and self centered. Don’t enterer inside that little head of yours how useless you really are ? You are unworthy of my time. Your life is useless, completely. The only reason why I’m here, with you, is because I need to caught your brother’s attention”

“Stefan ? What do you want from him ? Leave him alone”

Then Damon attacked, but Sybil used her powers to defend herself. She used a spell to hurt Damon’s mind and the vampire fell on his knees. Screaming for pain.

“As I said, without manners. Well, I don’t care. Let’s make another deal. You sleep a little, so you can think clear and maybe find some manners, while your friends will take back the brats to their parents before coming back to him”

“Let Enzo alone, you bitch”

“Shut up”

Then Sybil broke his neck. When Damon fell on the floor senseless, she ordered Enzo to take the children in her care and take them back to Caroline and Alaric. She had finished with them, they were useless and she got what she wanted.   
Damon would come back under her control, she would use him like a puppet, she would show his friends how cruel and heartless he really was.   
She had Enzo under her control already, and now Damon too.   
Elena would do anything to have her boyfriend back, she would come for the Sirens, they would talk, Sybil would tell her the beautiful fairytale of the two Salvatore brothers, and then Elena would look for him, look for Stefan. And then her struggle for the independence and freedom would finally begin.

…

Andrew Martin. Murder and cannibal, arrived in New Orleans only yesterday morning. He was a professions, he changed town after five months and changed his identity too.   
His new name was Gregory Norton now. He had killed and eaten one woman since his arrival in the city.  
He had a preference for young woman between twenty and thirty years old and he liked ginger because the color of their hair remembered him blood. It didn’t happen often to find a sinner like him. Stefan was excited.   
Two hours had passed since he accompanied Eri and Lexi at home and drank some animal blood he had in his silver flask.   
He jumped from the root from he was spying Martin, he lent behind an alley and then he started to follow him, keeping some distance.   
While he was following him he could feel his sins. Martin killed for the first time when he was seven years old, he killed the neighbour’s dog after it bite him. Then he killed other animals, and he began to kill other people after his diploma.  
Martin loved eating them, he loved savoring the blood and the flash of his victims inside his mouth, their taste on his tongue.  
Stefan could understand it perfectly.   
Martin was a predator, as Stefan was and for a moment the vampire had been tempted to turn him in a monster more dangerous than he already was. Unfortunately, the hunter inside him claimed his life and Stefan couldn’t resist.   
He grabbed Martin from the crowd, he used the compulsion on him not to make him scream, unfortunately they weren’t far enough to let Stefan enjoyed hearing his victim screaming.

“Do you want to play a little game with me ?”

He usually didn’t play with his victims, he usually liked watching them suffering and screaming, but when he couldn’t get this, he played with them.  
He made them believe they had a possibility to survive. It was so funny how naive people could be when they struggled for their lives. They didn’t think if it could be a trap, they didn’t understand that their assassin was only playing with them.  
They didn’t accept the idea of their death and denied it until the end. They just wanted to survive.

“If you guess what number between 1 and 11 I’m thinking you’re free to go”

His victim started to bubble all the numbers at random. The fear clear as the sunlight inside his eyes. Stefan had to repress a laugh.

“I’m sorry, You didn’t guess. Now be a good guy and die”

Then he pushed his hand inside Martin’s chest and ripped his heart out.   
Martin couldn’t scream, but it was clear that he was suffering a lot and that he was near to his death.  
Then the Hellfire came out from his bracelet and burned down Martin, his body and his soul was dragged in Hell forever.  
Stefan looked at his hand and where there was a beating heart there was only ashes. A little singe of a story of blood and flesh.

“Goodbye Andrew” he said.

Then he smiled. He couldn’t feel his sins, but he knew he was there, he knew he was behind him. He knew he had been following him since he went out home. He knew he had seen all the scene.   
And he was glad for it.   
‘In the name of the father… I brake my vow of silence’.  
Stefan stayed still, while the person behind him came closer, when two gently hands lowered his hood and caressed his cheeks.

“Good evening, love”

“Hello… Klaus…”

“You know we need to talk, right ?”

_'I hope I made you proud… Father…'_ , and the fingers of the other hand sharpened the rosary he had in his pocket.


	20. Revelations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stefan have finally found the courage to tell Klaus all the truth about him and his past. He took his mask out of his face and he let Klaus sees the real him under the wood. Will Klaus accept and forgive him ? Will the hybrid understand Stefan's torment and his past decisions ?  
> Kol instead is determinate to find out the truth about Henry and he didn't want surrender. What will he willing to do to know the truth ?  
> Damon instead has been kidnapped by Sybil who will try to take control over him again.

Stefan wasn’t sure to have taken he right decision. He had been sitting on a root with Klaus at his side for almost twenty minutes. He was wearing his Hunter outfit, and the bracelet was still burning the skin around his wrist. And the hunt hadn’t been over yet. He had to kill more. He had avoided to kill people for two days, Cade would be mad with him if he didn’t conclude nothing this night too.  
The only reason why Cade hadn’t tried to stop him from telling the truth to Klaus was that Stefan was still doing his job.  
That moment could be considered romantic by a lot of people, two almost boyfriends together, who were observing the living city under them and bright stars in the sky.  
Stefan used to be a romantic boy when he was human, he wished to find someone to love with all his heart, his true love to be loyal and devoted to.  
He looked at the blond and he wandered if Klaus could be that person to him. If the blond could love him now that he knew the truth.  
The truth was that he had made a shaky move, and he was wandering who he had made it for. For Klaus or for himself ?  
‘I made it for me, I made it because I have to save myself’, that was the lie he imposed himself to believe.  
If he admitted he had done it for Klaus, that would mean he cared of his judgment, he cared for Klaus to know the truth about him. He cared enough to give Klaus the possibility to run away from a damn soul like his. It would meant he was willing to give up on the only chance he had to be free for another man.  
It wasn’t the sacrifice itself which scared him, it was the meaning. No one did a sacrifice so big for someone they didn’t care about. Was it possible that he cared enough for Klaus already to do something like that ?  
He had to be sincere. Stefan knew he felt something for Klaus, he knew that he loved touching his golden hair with his fingers, that every mornings he looked at the sky, it made him thought of the color of his eyes, that his British accent drove him crazy. And his hands…  
When Klaus touched him, in the dream, Stefan felt, he couldn’t explain, like if a sort of electric shock ran thought his veins, like he really wanted to touch him.  
Katherine had never touched him like that. For her he was a conquest, and when she found out about his sexuality, she used compulsion on him to make him like having sex with her as well. Well it didn’t work a lot. Stefan despised having sex with her. It was rude and imposed and it was more like a rape than anything else.  
Cade’s touch wasn’t better. Stefan didn’t allow Cade to touch him, only to few parts of his face and overtime Cade touched him with his cold hands, it was a way to remember who Stefan belonged too.  
It was like the bracelet, a constant reminder to Stefan to make him remember that he was nothing more than the Devil’s hunter, that he had no free will, that he couldn’t escape from Hell, that he was a prisoner.  
When Klaus touched him with that hands instead, he didn’t want to establish a sort of dominance over Stefan, it wasn’t imposed, it wasn’t unwelcome, it was delicate and kind and Stefan actually loved it.

“I’ve never done something like this with another person before, for the only exception of Eri. You know, my… occupation keeps me away from te people. It isn’t wise for someone like socialize with people. So, when the hunt is over… I like spending some minutes looking at the city, seeing people laughing and being happy and thinking that now they will be safer because I’ve killed some bad people. It’s a weak consolation, maybe an excuse but it helps to make me feel less guilty”

Klaus remained silent but he listened carefully what the other had told to him.  
Klaus didn’t know how he should feel about the recent revelation. He didn’t know if he should feel happy because now he was sure to have been right about Stefan since the begin; furious with him because Stefan had dared to hide something so important to him, because he was a Sinner Hunter, a slave to the Devil and he had been at his side, letting the the darkness and flares of the Hell enter inside Klaus’ life; or something else.  
He was only certain of two things; the first, he wasn’t scared of the Hunter; the second, Stefan wasn’t going to kill him.  
Klaus knew he was a sinner, he had done a lot of bad things in his life, he killed, he tricked, he tortured, he humiliated, he lied… the list was long, a lot and nevertheless Stefan hadn’t killed him.  
Klaus was old enough to understand that he was still alive not only for pity but also because of another reason. He was important for Stefan, somehow. for some reason. Klaus also knew that Stefan was in denial about the feelings he had for him.

“Why now ? Why do you show the cards now ?” asked Klaus looking at the crowd under them.

“I’m not going to lie to you, but my time’s running out. So, before we continue this conversation, what do you know about the Sinner Hunters ?”

“That both you and Henrik are Hunters. That you sold your soul to Devil for some reason I can’t understand. That you killed bad people in the name of Devil. That you chose an eternal damnation in change of power, immortality and fortunes”

“It’s not true. Not for everyone, at least. I’ve never wanted to be a Sinner Hunter, but I had to.”

“Yeah ? Why ? What was so important to you, love, to decide to sell your soul to Devil ?”

Klaus chose to use “what” and not “who” on purpose. But he needed to understand. He wanted to understand. When he saw Stefan killing that man before, he wandered about any kind of scenarios that came into his mind, he thought about any possibility because he was convinced that Stefan wouldn’t tell him the truth. Turned out he was wrong.

“My brother, Damon, had been subjugated by another Hunter. When you became and Hunter you are doom to obey to Devil forever and if you want your freedom back you have only two ways. One of them was selling another soul to Devil to take your place in his army. This is what happen to Damon”

“And then did he sell your soul to be free again ?” asked Klaus stunned.

“I sold my own soul to save him, Klaus. I looked in the eyes of the Devil and I gave him my soul… to protect the most important man of my life. And I’ve never regretted it even if it’s painful and cost me days of depression”

Klaus was shocked, he looked at Stefan with wide eyes. He would have never thought about it, not even into a million years, that someone could love someone so much to sell his soul to Devil.  
Klaus was looking inside his heart, looking for the sensation that always warned him when Stefan lied to him and he didn’t find it.  
Stefan was telling the truth. Stefan was capable of loving so much at the point to let his soul burn in Hell.  
Maybe he was insane, but that was making him adore Stefan even more.  
But he still had a lot of questions.

“Why do you have to kill in that way ? Why do you have to burn their heart with that bracelet ?”

“The flares you saw, they belong to the Hellfire. Those flares burn not only the body, but also the soul of the victims and drag them into Hell, where they will suffer for the eternity. Where their should will be devoured and severed by the flames, their sins and their faults. My victims don’t belong to me, they’re for the Devil. I kill in his name”

“It was him who denied you to drink their blood ?” asked Klaus.

“Not only for this. The Devil has pity for no one. He offers immortality and power to the Hunters in change of submission and obedience but they don’t know they will burn in Hell sooner or later. An Hunter can kill for Devil for over a millennium, and he can kill again, and again, until he forgets who or what he kill for. And so he begins to kill innocent people too.”

“And Sinner Hunters don’t kill innocent people, right ? They kill for punish their victims, their a sort of vigilantes, not murderers.” concluded Klaus.

“Exactly. This wouldn’t be possible with me if I drink human blood. The first time I began a Ripper, it was because I couldn’t control my bloodlust. So, if I lost control over my bloodlust again, the Devil can’t send my soul in the Hell, because there would be the sense of guilty, the struggle for gaining my control again. My good self would struggle for dominance over my bloodlust”

“And why don’t push you to turn your emotions off ?”

“It would be the same. If I turn my emotions off, there would be the possibility that I became a monster only because I couldn’t feel guilty, because I lacked what makes humans what they are, the feelings. Devil doesn’t want this. He wants me to prove to him and to myself that I can be a monster even when I can control my bloodlust, even when I can feel everything. Or he will always have the doubt that I became a monster because he pushed me too and not because I am ones by nature”

“He’s a bastard”

Klaus had been a cruel person, he may still was and he wasn’t in the position to judge anyone but he hated this unknown man, he hated what he was doing to Stefan and to his younger brother. Because Stefan hadn’t denied that Henrik was a Sinner Hunter as well. The Devil was a sort of external viewer, who enjoyed seeing his toys destroyed themselves, making them fall in Hell when they believed to have attained their greatest glory. He was a parasite that enjoyed squeezing and abusing of the dreams, the hope and the goodness of the people who came to him with nothing more than a prayer.

“He’s the Devil. And somehow being a Sinner Hunter made me understand an important thing about me, or at least it’s making me understand it”

“What ?” asked Klaus.

“I will tell you when I will understand it completely”

It was almost a relief having told his story to someone else. Now he had someone else who knew the truth, who knew why his soul was damn, why the Devil persecuted him.  
Now Klaus knew who Stefan chose to be, who he was and who could become and above all he knew why.  
He felt that he no longer feared the consequences of his decisions.  
That secrets was devouring him and if he wanted to be saved and wanted to build something with Klaus, trust and honesty were the only way. Because Stefan wanted to be free, and he wanted to be loved and feel it for someone. He had spent so much time being alone, utterly alone and now he wanted nothing more that someone who wanted to spend his life with him forever.

“May I kiss you now ?” asked Stefan with trembling voice.

Maybe it was inopportune, but he really wanted to kiss Klaus in that moment.  
Klaus looked at him and for a moment the toddler feared the blond would hurt him.  
Instead, Klaus grabbed his face gently with both his hands. He caressed his cheek, while his face came closer and closer until Stefan could feel his breath on his face and his perfume too.  
He loved it.  
Klaus would deny it for eternity, but he was almost content that Stefan was the one who asked for it. It meant that the toddler really wanted to be kissed by him, he wasn’t feared of making that request. Oh, Klaus would be so glad to kiss that lovely pout.  
He touched Stefan’s lips with his own, then he started to move then gently, almost as if he was scared of braking them.  
He sucked the other’s lips, che stressed them with his lips and his tongue, and Klaus lost himself in the moment.  
Stefan opened slightly his mouth, giving to Klaus the permission to deepen the kiss.  
Stefan was surprised by the way Klaus’ tongue could be dominant and firm but also gentle and passionate at the same time.  
It was clear that Klaus wanted to lead the kiss, because he needed to know he was the one in control, that was because Stefan asked him to kiss him. Klaus would have felt free of saying no, he would have felt to be in control and Stefan had nothing in contrary.  
He kissed only few people in his life, so it was a good think that Klaus was the one in control.  
Stefan didn’t consider that moment a fight for domination after all. He didn’t want to deface that moment, the kiss he had been waiting for his entire life. A kiss to share with someone he could really cared about.  
Klaus instead was surprised that Stefan was letting him leading the kiss. As he knew that the hybrid would have needed to be in control even in that kind of situation and he was okay with that. For a moment the blond feared that Stefan was acting so yielding because he was used to it. He worked for a devil after all, and Klaus was afraid Stefan was just used to deal with dominant personalities.  
But then Stefan began to caress his hair with an hand and to caress his cheek with another, and at some point he moaned.  
Such a lovely sound for Klaus’ ears.  
Stefan loved touching Klaus’ skin. The blond’s skin was hot, not cold, not dead, when Stefan touched him he felt life, he felt warmth, he felt someone who was capable of making him feel alive. Klaus was everything Stefan had always wanted for himself from the world, someone who could make him feel alive. And for the first time he demanded to himself, if he could feel for Klaus the love he hadn’t felt for someone else for a long time.

…

Henry had no idea of how he should feel. He could feel Stefan’s thoughts in his head, his indecisions, his confusion, he could feel that Stefan was analyzing his situation and pondering all the future possibilities.  
Henry hadn’t decide yet if he was glad or not that his brother was the soul to save of another Hunter.  
Maybe it was another sign that his family would never be useful for him, not to save him from Hell at least.  
Henry hated his family and he was glad that Stefan was keeping his secret.  
Yes, Stefan hadn’t denied when Klaus asked him if his youngest brother was an Hunter, but Henry knew that Stefan would keep his lovely mouth closed.  
The vow of silent Stefan made wasn’t the one toward Cade, but the ones toward him and it was even more important.  
Whether they liked it or not, Stefan and Henry were brothers more than Henry and Klaus could ever be. He was sure that if he appeared in front of his siblings they wouldn’t recognize him.  
Both he and Stefan had to become part of a unholy family, they were brothers and as any brothers they shared secrets that no one else out of the family had to know.  
He was holding his amulet and he was waiting inside a warehouse. He knew that there a group of drug dealers would come to withdraw a drug load and to discuss about some business.  
Henry loved killing people in group, like he did in Las Vegas. The biggest part of the Hunters preferred killing their victims one after one, but Henry was convinced that the marching grass had to be burnt together, all at once.  
That made him think about what Jun told to Stefan, that Cade was planning another Fire.  
That was a problem. Henry had participated to two Fire. The first had been the Great Fire of London, a conflagration that swept through the central parts of the English city of London from Sunday 2 September to Wednesday 5 September 1666.  
The second had been the Great Chicago Fire, a conflagration that burned from Sunday October 8 to early Tuesday October 10 1871.  
Men had tried to justified that two terrible events with a lot of explanations, futile ad wrong each one of them. The worst part was that while the people were dying burning in front of his eyes and dragged into Hell, Henry was entertained, really. He enjoyed what he was seeing but now that he knew that at the next Fire his family could die as well he wandered if he could be entertained as well.

_'I’ve done my job, Henry. I have Damon Salvatore in my hands. With him and his friend under my control I will be able to find it really soon'_

Henry smiled. He knew he could trust Sybil, she was the best at controlling people’s mind, specially the mind of stupid dumb fools like Damon Salvatore. Stefan hadn’t talk a lot about his older brother with him, it wasn’t necessary.  
Sybil told a lot things about him and Henry had seen Damon through Stefan’s sins.

“Excellent. I know that Cade’s planning another Fire. Be careful, okay ?”

_'A Fire ? Why so soon ?'_

'I don’t know. I will find out. Apparently he’s planning to take Hell in Earth, this is why you need to find it quickly'

_'I will. I made so much to be free of Hell that I don’t want to burn there for the eternity'_

'Me too. I gotta go. My victims are coming. Wish me good luck'

_'Always'_

Four vans arrived inside the warehouse and then five armed people got out from the first van, two in second, while the driver remained in the van, in the third got out one man, dressed up in an elegant and expensive suite, with a golden watch around his twist, with two bodyguards.  
‘He must to be someone important’ Henry thought.  
From the fourth van got out other three armed people. Nothing interesting, nothing that Henry couldn’t handle.  
He remained where he was, observing the scene, listening them from afar.  
When he was done with their stupid bubbles he did what he had to do.

“Phasmatos motus incendiarios”

The Hell was going to receive a great drug load tonight and not only.

…

Kol wasn’t glad about the current situation, at all. He wanted to drag the new Klaus’ boyfriend here and made him talk at cost of using tortures against him. And that little pathetic skit they made when they pretended not to know what Rebekah was talking about…  
Rebekah said that Stefan was telling the truth when he said that he’d never hear Henrik’s name in his life, but Kol wasn’t wiling to give up just yet.  
Henrik wasn’t a modern name, it’s an ancient version of Henry, so it could be that his youngest brother introduced himself as Henry.  
Henry was a common name, but he was also sure that there weren’t so many Sinner Hunters named Henry. There had to be someone who knew how to find a Sinner Hunter, someone who had met one of them, someone who could help him to find his youngest brother.  
He was sitting on the porch, looking at the stars in the sky. He used to do it when he was human. Sometimes he joined to Klaus and Henrik and he waited for the dawn to raise and it was beautiful. He wandered if Henry had someone to look the sky with.  
He heard the door opening but he didn’t turn back. Whoever was would talk if he had something important to say or he was free of screwing himself.

“Are you still brooding about what Stefan told to us ?”

Kol closed his eyes, pondering if he could just ignore Freya’s question and pretende she wasn’t there or if he should force himself to be polite.  
It wasn’t new that he didn’t share the best relationship with Freya. The two had fought since the first day they met, then she had sacrificed Davina and he said her he would never accept her.  
But she offered to help him to find Henrik and Freya had never met him, she didn’t even know his face and still she believed that there could be some hope that their brother was still alive. Instead Klaus and Elijah just ignored this possibility, preferring focus themselves more on the war with Marcel instead of their family. As usual. Kol didn’t put it up with them when they behaved like that.

“I am. I just don’t want to give up already. He said he didn’t know someone named Henrik, but it is an ancient name. I bet everything that now our brother introduced himself as Henry and if he’s a Sinner Hunter too… we could focus our attention on the recent murders happened in the city. We could…”

We could do a lot of things and few. Freya didn’t know what to say but she could understand Kol. She felt in that way while she was losing Finn for the second time, while she was kneeling in front of him praying someone not to take him away from her.  
She didn’t know anything about Henrik and her siblings weren’t willing to talk about him a lot, it was a delicate topic and no one in the family had accepted his death.  
Klaus in particular who felt responsible for it.  
Freya’d never met him but if she could save at least one of her brothers, Henrik would fill the emptiness left by Finn and Freya would learn to love him as she loved all of her brothers.

“Rebekah suggested to talk with his brother. She said that she has his number. Maybe Damon can say to us something more. Rebekah said that Damon can be a mean boy and a cruel person when he wants and…”

“Yes, yes, Damon Salvatore can be a real criminal and a serial killer but I don’t see how this can be useful”

“I suggested to call Damon because if is true that Henrik is a Sinner Hunter, it could be true that Stefan is a Sinner Hunter as well.” said Rebekah closing the door behind her back.

“I don’t care if Stefan Salvatore is a Sinner Hunter, I do care for Henrik.” said Kol standing up and passing an hand through his hair frustrated.

“Kol it’s important. If Stefan is a Sinner Hunter and he’s here, we can find out more about Sinner Hunters in general. We can find out who had been so cruel to turn our brother into an assassin, we can set him free. If Stefan known him, he could convince him to come home, to us” said Rebekah.

“But why him ? Why doesn’t Henrik want to come back by himself ?” asked Kol.

He refused to call him Henry. For him it would always be Henrik and he wanted to find him.  
But he didn’t accept that a stranger, someone who wasn’t part of the family, could have more possibilities to convince Henry to come back here or to talk to them at least while they didn’t even know where he was.  
It wasn’t fair. Stefan wasn’t Henrik’s family, they were, they could help him.  
But what did he know about his brother ? Nothing. He knew nothing about his brother’s life, if he had friends, or a girlfriend. He didn’t even know what sort of relationship Henrik shared with Stefan.  
But his sister was right. If Damon knew something more about his brother they had to call him.

“Did you say you have Damon’s number right ?”

…

Damon Salvatore came round about an hour and a half later. If he wasn’t sure he was a vampire he would have swore to have headache.  
He didn’t know where he was, but he could feel that his wrist were chained and held over his head. His vampire’s abilities had been weakened, probably Sybil injected him with vervain.  
‘Damn bitch, you’re going to pain for this’.  
Damon hated that stupid damn whore with all his heart. What fuck did she want from him ? She had already taken everything he cared about, she had taken away his dignity, his memories with Katherine, his brother and one of his dearest friend.  
Where was Enzo ? Did he take Lizzie and Josie back home ? Were they safe ?  
What did Sybil want from Stefan again ?  
Damon hadn’t heard or seen Stefan for a long time, he didn’t know where he was, what he was doing, what he had done all those years away from him.  
It was obvious that Stefan and Sybil hadn’t met all after that damn night. Stefan killed sinners and Sybil was one of them, unless Cade hadn’t given her protection and a complete immortality even if she wasn’t an Huntress anymore.  
So what had Stefan done to her ?

“I can read your mind, Damon. I feel your thoughts and your confusion is a delight for me.” said Sybil turning the light on in the room.

Now Damon could see the room clear, even if the vervain hadn’t been metabolized by his system. He was in a sort of basement. There were empty shaves full of webs and dust on the right, instead on the left there were boxes but Damon could say what there was inside. It wasn’t even important in that moment.  
What was important was that he was chained, weak, without any idea about his location with one of the people he hated the most in the world.  
Sybil was wearing a long black dress, elegant, which emphasized her body curves. A true temptress, Damon could see why she used to be the Devil’s wife.

“Are you enjoying the shoe ? I’ve known you have a crush for me”

“Oh Damon, if you think I’ve never loved you you’re wrong. I love you even now, as a slave of course. You’re a dominating person, someone who’s always in charge, someone who craves for control, and I have a dominant personality too.”

“Really ? I thought you used to work under Cade… in all the senses”

Sybil threw her gaze, but then she laughed and she continued to talk “You have no idea of how satisfying could be dominating another dominant person. Look at you, you’re at my mercy exactly as you were the first time we met”

“You plagued me with your chanted song”

“Chanted ? We’ll see”

Sybil started to sing. A sweet slow melody, soft like a caress, delicate like a petal of flower, a song who was telling a story full of broken promises, lies and melancholy.  
It was a song that could brake the most hardened hearts, a song to drag the purest hearts in Hell.  
It was a song that talked about a Siren that lost his voice to pleasure a man who abandoned her in the end.  
Damon tried to ignore the song, tried to think about something else, he tried to sing another song in his head but the song was too sweet, too tempting, too beautiful to be ignored.  
It wasn’t the song itself that expected to be listened, but it was his head, his ears, his heart that obliged him to listen. And before he could stop himself he found himself attracted by her song, completely and Sybil would smiles if she wasn’t singing.  
She had won, again.  
‘Let me read your mind Damon… let’s see what you have done all these years”  
Then Sybil penetrated his mind with her song.  
She saw everything she needed to know.

…

**_“Katherine.”_ **

_“No – um – I I’m Elena.”_

**_“Oh, you – you just look… I’m sorry, you just really remind me of someone. I’m Damon.”_ **

_“Not to be rude or anything, Damon, but it’s kind of creepy that you’re out here in the middle of nowhere._

**_“You’re one to talk. You’re out here all by yourself.”_ **

_“It’s Mystic Falls. Nothing bad ever happens here. Got into a fight with my boyfriend.”_

**_“About what? May I ask.”_ **

_“Life, future, he’s got it all mapped out.”_

**_“And you don’t want it?”_ **

_“I don’t know what I want.”_

**_“Well, that’s not true. You want what everybody wants._ **

_“What? Mysterious stranger who has all the answers?”_

**_“Hmm, well, let’s just say I’ve been around a long time. I’ve learned a few things.”_ **

_“So, Damon, tell me. What is it that I want?”_

**_“You want a love that consumes you. You want passion, an adventure, and even a little danger.”_ **

_“So, what do you want? It’s my parents.”_

**_“I want you to get everything that you’re looking for, but right now I want you to forget that this happened. Can’t have people knowing that I’m in town yet. Goodnight, Elena.”_ **

  
**_…_ **

**_“I’m Damon, gorgeous”_ **

_“I’m Elena”_

_And there was a spark in their eyes that preached a crooked love that would change the lives of both forever._

_…_

**_“I like you. You know how to laugh. And you make me smile, which is something I haven’t done in a very long time.”_ **

_“Earlier, did you mean… Katherine ? How did she die ?”_

**_“In a fire. Tragic fire”_ **

_“Recently ?”_

**_“It seems like it was yesterday”_ **

_“What was she like ?”_

_“ **She was beautiful. A lot like you in that department. She was also very complicated and selfish and at times not very kind, but very sexy and seductive”**_

…

_“How can you be so arrogant and glib after everything that you’ve done ?”_

**_“And how can you be so brave and stupid to call a vampire arrogant and glib ?”_ **

_“If you wanted me dead, I’d be dead”_

**_“Yes, you would”_ **

_“But I’m not”_

**_“Yet”_ **

_…_

_“ **…You’re surprised that I thought you’d kiss me back. You can’t imagine that I’d believe that you’d want to.”**_

_“Damon”_

_“ **Yet, what we’ve been doing here… means something. You’re the liar, Elena… there is something going on between the two of us and you know it. And you’re lying to me but worst of all you’re lying to yourself. I can prove it”**_

_…_

**_“You have every right to hate me. I understand but you hated me before and we became friends. It would suck if that was gone forever. So, is it ? Have I lost you forever ?”_ **

_“Thank you for the book, Damon”_

…

**_“Brought you this.”_ **

_“I thought that was gone. Thank you... please give it back…”_

**_“I just have to say something.”_ **

_“Why do you have to say it with my necklace?”_

**_“Because what I'm about to say is...probably the most selfish thing I've ever said in my life.”_ **

_“Damon, don't go there.”_

**_“No. I have to say it once, you just need to hear it...I love you, Elena. And it's because I love you that I can't be selfish with you, and why you can't know this. I don't deserve you. God, I wish you didn't have to forget this. But you do.”_ **

_…_

**_“I can't lose you.”_ **

_“You won’t.”_

…

**_“If you come back as a vampire, I'll stake you myself. Because I can't stand the idea of you hating me forever.”_ **

…

**_“This is even more pitiful than I thought.”_ **

_There’s still hope._

_**“I have made a lot of choices that have gotten me here. I deserve this. I deserve to die.** ”_

_“No, you don’t”_

**_“I do, Elena. It’s okay, ‘Cause if I had chosen differently, I couldn’t have met you. I’m so sorry. I have done so many things to hurt you.”_ **

_“It’s okay. I forgive you.”_

**_“Elena, I love you. You should know that.”_ **

_“I do.”_

**_“You should have met me in 1864. Maybe you would have liked me…”_ **

_“I like you now… just the way you are.”_

**_“Thanks.”_ **

_“You’re welcome.”_

…

**_“Do you trust me?”_ **

_“Yes.”_

**_“Then you have nothing to worry about.”_ **

_…_

**_“No, I'm mad at you because I love you!”_ **

_“Well maybe that's the problem.”_

_…_

_“Why don't you let people see the good in you?”_

**_“Because when people see good, they expect good. And I don't want to have to live up to someone's expectations.”_ **

_…_

**_“I wanted to apologize.”_ **

_“Good.”_

**_“Let me finish. I said I wanted to. And then I realized, I'm not sorry.”_ **

_“You would rather die than be human, and you expect me to be okay with that?”_

**_“I didn't say you were supposed to be okay with it, I just said I'm not sorry. But you know what I really am? Selfish, because I make bad choices that hurt you. Yes, I would rather have died than be human. I'd rather die right now than spend a handful of years with you, only to lose you when I'm too old and sick and miserable and you're still you. I'd rather die right now than spend my last final years remembering how good I had it and how happy I was, because that's who I am, Elena, and I'm not gonna change. And there's no apology in the world that encompasses all the reasons that I'm wrong for you.”_ **

_“Fine, then I'm not sorry either. I'm not sorry that I met you. I'm not sorry that knowing you has made me question everything, that in death you're the one that made me feel most alive. You've been a terrible person, you've made all the wrong choices, and of all the choices that I've made this will prove to be the worst one. But I am not sorry that I'm in love with you. I love you, Damon. I love you.”_

_…_

“Interesting, the idiot had found someone who loves him over all his faults and guilt. Luck bastard” that was all Sybil could think about the relationship between Damon and Elena. Nothing original, in her opinion. It was a common love story when the girl next door and the bad boy initially hated each other and they fell deeply in love, their love was crooked, rich of upside downs but in the end they always came back to each other.

“My my, you really are into this girl and you really care for this stupid relationship. I can see everything… I know everything…”

“Leave Elena out of this… Leave Elena out of this !!! GET OUT OFF MY FUCKING MIND !!!”

Damon started to scream and tried to get free from the chains, but it was useless. Sybil was controlling not only his mind but also his body and she was stopping him from doing anything she didn’t want him to.  
She laughed at his pain and more Damon suffered and struggled more she considered entertaining what she was seeing.

“I don’t take orders from you. And I’m loving too much what I’m seeing. Accept it, more you will struggle, more pleasure you will give to me. You’re always been the weakest brother, this is way I managed to control you once and I will do the same again”

“No, I’m strongest now. I’m not the selfish, cruel, narcissistic person I used to be. I’m changed thank to Elena and our love. You can’t control me…”

“Really ? And then care to explain me why, if you’re changed so much, you’ve never looked for Stefan to make up for what you had one to him ? For having abandoned him ?”

Damon closed his eyes. Sybil knew al his soft spots, she knew where she could hit me, she knew things about him that she didn’t hesitate to use against him.  
She was reading his mind, she knew everything about his relationship with Elena and she knew that he had abandoned Stefan a long time ago, because he was a selfish person, who cared only about himself, who had no hesitation to turn his back to Stefan once and for all.  
He was the imperfect brother, the piece of shit, the coward, the one who promised to Stefan an eternity of unhappiness and misery and then he let his soul to burn in Hell.  
Sybil smirked victorious. She didn’t even need to read Damon’s mind to know he hadn’t had the courage to tell to his stupid dumb girlfriend about the little brother he had abandoned. He was the spineless coward she remembered. It made only things easier for her.

“And you’ve always known that Katherine had chose Stefan over you. Everyone would, he is simply the better man. Do you think that Elena would prefer him over you when Stefan will come here ?”

“Stefan’s smart. He would know it’s only a trap. He won’t come”

“Do you really believe it ? Or do you hope ?”

Damon growled but he refused to answer to her, but sometimes not answering was giving an answer anyway.  
Damon may wasn’t the smartest one of his family, but he wasn’t even stupid enough not to know that everyone’d always preferred Stefan and always would be. Stefan was the sweat brother, who put the others well being and safety before his, who cared for others, who didn’t hesitate to give up on his own happiness to be sure that his friends were happy.  
Stefan was the perfection Damon’d always had craved for himself.  
Sybil smirked, knowing she had won again.  
Damon truly feared that if Stefan decided to come in Mystic Falls, Elena would fall for him. Unfortunately Damon didn’t know his little brother had other tastes.

“Elena… would…”

“Elena would choose him. But don’t worry. You won’t care about it for a long time.”

“Why ?”

“Because I need you to get Stefan here. So until then, I will sweep you and your friend up to the last, I will abuse of your mind, of your secrets, I will destroy everything you care about, without remorse.”

“What have I done to you to deserve this ?”

“Nothing. As I said you’re not worthy of my time, you’re simply the means to each and end, a man in my case. Now, be a good boy again and let me take control over your mind”

Sybil started to sing again and her song could manipulate Damon’s mind easier than the first time.  
Damon started to have doubts about his relationship for the first time after his declaration of love for Elena.  
Sybil had made him doubt of his love for Elena, she had made him questioning the foundation itself of his relationship. What would Elena do when she will find out that he had abandoned his little brother ?  
Would she leave him ? Would she fall in love with Stefan ? Would she put it up with his faults as before ?  
‘Who knows… who cares… I’ve another slave who would do everything I order. Be prepared my dear Husband, your lovely family are preparing a beautiful surprise for you’, Sybil thought while she took control over Damon for the second time.

 


	21. The Unholy Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lexi and Stefan discuss about the Hunter's decision to tell Klaus all the truth about his double life and they also share their opinion about the importance of family.  
> At the same time Sybil keeps to manipulate both Damon and Enzo' minds at her pleasure and she's ready to sacrifice their lives for reaching her goals.  
> Henry goes to Hell to look for some valuable informations to defeat his "Father" once and for all.  
> Stefan... Sybil... Henry...They are the unholy family and they had no idea of what kind of future the Father has planning for them.

**CHAPTER 21**

  
Cade had been following his beautiful wife since the moment she arrived in Mystic Falls. He knew she was planning something or that she was talking whit someone else of the family or she wouldn’t have reasons to use the Verbis Diablo to hide her thoughts from him. Well, she couldn’t keep her secrets from him forever, he would find out everything in the end.  
Sybil thought she could moved on by her former life as Sinner Huntress, as his wife, as Queen of Hell but she was wrong. She had no idea of what he was planning to do, of the great picture he had in his mind, of the world he was panning to built with his family.  
Yes, family, an unholy family but always a family.  
Stefan had defeated one of his pedestrian but Jun was a minimum loss and just the begin and Cade had no time to waste with the loss of one of his insubordinates, which was better than losing one of his sons or daughters.  
He had others kitsunes, other monsters who had been waiting for their occasion for a long time. Monsters that had just one goal to pursuit… vendetta against the whole world.  
Vampires, witches, werewolves, humans, sinners, innocents… they all were going to die, they all were going to burn down in Hell forever, he would make sure of it. No one of them would escape his judgment. They would suffer by the flames, the monsters who lived in Hell, monsters whose obeyed to him. They all should be careful, do their next moves, choices and actions with cautions. The should begin to fight for their freedom and their lives because Cade was planning to send his army against them.  
He would set the greatest Fire that would burn down the entire world, where all would suffer for their sins, where sinners would payed for their sins forever because he would never let them die. He would never give them that privilege.  
Cade and his Hunters would run the new world together.  
People would cry, would beg for their lives, would struggle for their survival, would try to fight the build of the new world, but Cade would made the human race kneel before him.  
‘Me and my unholy family’, thought Cade with a smirk.

“Cheers to all people who let me burn a long time ago. Your legacy will burn in Hell with all of you” said Cade laughing maniacally.

…

Stefan opened his eyes. He heard him, he heard his laugh and it was a terrible scaring sound that was making his skin shiver.  
The Devil, his… father was in a good mood and he wasn’t sure it was a good sign.  
The Hunters’ minds were linked to each other, but not with Cade’s ones.  
It was a strategy of the Devil to make them believe they could have some control over their minds and their secrets, a move to make them believe that the Devil had loosened the grip on the leash but it was a lie.  
Cade constantly controlled their mind, even the Verbis Diablo could only delay the inevitable.  
Stefan knew it was only a matter of time before Cade would find out the he had told to Klaus all the truth about him.  
‘Father would punish me for this… quite painfully I bet’ Stefan thought while he stood up from the bed and going toward the bathroom.  
Stefan himself hadn’t decided yet if telling Klaus the truth was the right decision but he didn’t regret it and definitely he didn’t regret the kiss.  
The kiss had been wonderful and Stefan considered it the real first kiss with Klaus because there weren’t wall anymore that dived them.  
Stefan had finally revealed himself to Klaus, the real himself, without masks or veils.  
Klaus knew who he was and the things he had done and still the blond had kissed him because he wanted to and Stefan was happy for this because he felt accepted, for once in his life. He felt understood too.  
Another person instead would run away from him without looking back, or would screamed at him, yelling at him, pointing his finger agains him, throwing all his mistakes in his face and then would run away forever.  
Klaus stayed, Klaus understood him, he was trying at least and he listened him.  
Klaus went away and let him continuing his hunt alone because Stefan asked him to.  
One thing was telling Klaus the truth, another was killing sinners with him at his side and using the Hellfire with his eyes pointed on him.  
Klaus understood that too and he went away, not before kissing him again.  
And now he was finding himself smiling like an idiot for what had happened yesterday.  
He was so happy that he hoped he wouldn’t sing now that he was ready to have a shower.  
Lexi would listen him, unfortunately.  
The blond in question hadn’t slept very well that night. She had spent the entire night thinking and worrying about Stefan, about the consequences of the decision he took when he killed that kitsune, about the person he could become, about all the bad things Cade could do to him when he would find out he had told Klaus the truth.  
That was why she woke up really early that morning , she managed to hunt four animals before coming home where she started to prepare pancakes for Eri just for doing something to distract herself.  
When she arrived she heard Stefan having shower and she noticed that the door of Eri’s bedroom was closed. Probably she was still sleeping but Lexi wanted to be sure of it after the last time.  
Lexi opened the door slightly not wanting to wake Eri up, and she smiled when she saw the little girl sleeping in her bed.

“Good, at least she can sleep.” said Lexi closing the door and going into the kitchen.

Lexi was glad to be here with them in that moment. Stefan had made a bad decision that could be a possible trigger to push him to do other wrong decisions and in these kind of situation she was the only one who could help him.  
Eri instead had just seen the death of one of her kind and it had to be terrible for her.  
She behaved like an adult, and under certain aspects she was, she was mature, smart, wise, sometimes more responsible than Stefan, who was an adult, but under other aspects she was still a little girl who stil suffered for having been abandoned by her parents.  
Her expression passed by being worried to be sad. Thinking about Eri made her think about her parents too, about his brother and the life she used to be. Lexi usually avoided to think about her family, but sometimes the sense of missing and of solitude were so strong that she feared to remain suffocated by it.  
It didn’t matter how many years or centuries she lived, that sense of solitude, that need of affection, the memories of a simply but happy life with the people she had loved with all hear heart still came back and tormented her mind and hurt her heart.  
She missed her parents, she missed her brother and maybe it was the main reason why she felt so protective toward Stefan.  
Of course Stefan could never substitute her brother, herself refused to consider Stefan as a simply surrogate. Stefan was something different but not for this she loved him less.  
All those years lived as vampire and alone thought her that family not always was about blood, family was a bound made of trust, loyal and devotion that you could create and shared with someone special.  
Eri and Stefan were special to her.  
She heard the bathroom’s door opening and then Stefan came out, already dressed up with only wet hair.  
Lexi rolled her eyes ‘He will risk to to bathe all over his shirt on his shoulders.

“True, but I’m in good mood, excellent actually and a wet shirt won’t ruin it” said Stefan who had clearly read her mind.

“Speaking of this, you haven’t told me what happened yesterday night yet. You came back here with a gleeful smile on your face, you passed your pain to Eri and then you gave me two containers with animal blood as a son gives a present to her mother and you didn’t speak a word after that”

“Well, I’ll appreciate if you respect my privacy” said Stefan sitting on a chair and looking at her with playful smirk.

“What ? You’ve taken one of the most difficult and harsh decisions of your boring life and you don’t want to tell me the outcome ? Oh come on. From your stupid smile I can get that Klaus hadn’t killed you or attacked you and that the blond had, somehow, accepted your… occupation. So speak. Are you friends or an item now ?”

“Don’t know. You have more experience than me on the matter. Do friends kiss each other ?”

Lexi almost burned the pancake she was cooking when Stefan told her that.  
Probably Eri would kill her if she knew, but Lexi was glad that Stefan had finally found not only his soul to save but also someone who he could finally share something important with.  
It was too early to speak of love, Stefan had never felt love for anyone, not even when he was human. His longest relationship he had was the one with Katherine, if it could be considered a relationship. Klaus was the first, the first guy Stefan felt a genuine affection for, the first guy who made his heart beat faster, his legs trembling.  
Klaus was Stefan’s first crush and Lexi was both happy and worried.  
Worried because she feared the naivety Stefan could live his first relationship with.

“No. Not two simple friend at least. Is he good at kissing ? Please say not, or I will regret not to have kissed him when he flirted with me” she joked.

“Oh no, threesome no. It’s not even original” said Stefan with a small laugh.

Well, he wasn’t joking completely. He had been in a threesome once, with Katherine and Damon and although he was gay and he wasn’t interested in Katherine, the brunette vampire looked more interested in him than in Damon and that created complications and rivalry between him and his brother. Stefan had hoped not to be in a threesome ever again since then.

“No, you can sleep quietly. Blonds are not my type. I don’t want to be a Barbie and Ken couple. So, you kissed and did it happen before or after your confession ?”

“After. It had been strange”

So Stefan told her everything that happened last night with Klaus. Everything, every words he told Klaus and that the blond told to him. Lexi listened everything carefully, without interrupting him, without revealing any emotions with her eyes, without thinking anything.  
Stefan was glad to have someone he could about Klaus with. He really needed to know if Lexi would continue to support his decision.

“When the kiss finished… I asked him to go away. I don’t want to continue the hunt with him looking at me.”

“And he went away without replying ?”

“Maybe he wanted some time alone to think about what I’ve told him too. I gave him a lot to reflect about”

“And what about Henry ?”

“I didn’t confirmed or denied anything. Somehow Klaus can understand when I lie. He said that every time I lie to him, a sort of sensation grows inside his heart that turn his doubts into certainties about the fact that I’m lying. And sometimes Klaus prefers to believe in what he wants, so whatever I would have said had been considered false by him.”

“And what now ? Klaus won’t stop to look for Henry will him ?”

“Of course not. He won’t start to look for Henry now that he had to fight against Marcel but he will sooner or later. But if Henry doesn’t give me his permission, I won’t tell anything about him.”

“Why ? Don’t you think that would be better for Henry staying with his family specially now that they know he’s alive and what he became ?”

“Not if he would see it as a betray from me. His siblings want him back but he didn’t want to come back to them. He would consider a possibile reunion as imposed.”

“But why ? Family’s support could be important, even fundamental for him. His siblings could help him to be saved”

“Or they could used his as a lethal weapon to resolve their problema. Think about it, Henry is a Sinner Hunter, he has incredible powers and abilities and he cannot die, he killed in name of Cade, but the biggest part of Mikaelson’ enemies are sinners. I think he feared that his family could use him”

“How could you think it ?” asked Lexi stunned.

“Because I know Mikaelson’ family, or at least I know them by their sins. They use people, they use each other even and they don’t care about anything but the outcomes of their actions. Everything bad that happen to other people are considered collateral damages. Henry fears that his family could abuse of his powers”

“As you feared that Damon could use you if you two meet again ?”

“Yes. Damon used me in the past. Before to abandon me, I’ve killed people who he made angry or had debts with. Family is a gift but in certain case could be a burden too. Damon used to be a burden for me and could be in the future. Mikaelson are not different. I don’t think they’re ready to meet Henry.”

Stefan wasn’t happy to say these things but he thought them, all of them. He was happy of the family he had created, him, Lexi and Eri, all people he trusted with all himself.  
Lexi or Eri could ask him to lead him toward a crooked path with a blindfold and he would accept because he would be sure they would conduct him safe and sound at the end of the path.  
With Damon that kind of trust wasn’t possible. Damon had betrayed his trust once more when he abandoned him without coming back to help him to get out from the situation Stefan was into only to save him.  
One thing was his brother’s promise of an eternity of misery, another one was pushing his soul right inside the Hell. Stefan knew that meeting Damon again was risking.  
Troubles were everywhere Damon was, and Stefan had already enough troubles to fix himself and he wouldn’t let Damon’s ruining his life more.  
‘Lucking he’s not a problem of mine anymore’.  
If he only knew…

…

Sybil was swimming inside a swimming pool, while Enzo and Damon were conducting two sinners to them. She was hungry but fortunately her two new lovers could take care of the matter.  
She hadn’t eaten for two days and only now she was noticing how hungry she really was.  
Bad bad, she shouldn’t have neglected herself so much.  
She didn’t even know why she asked to those two idiots to look for bad people to eat. She wasn’t a Sinner Huntress anymore, she didn’t have to kill only bad people but she had never stopped to, probably for habit.  
‘Bad habits… they died hard…’ Sybil thought starting to sing.  
She ordered to Damon and Enzo to be discreet, she didn’t want to caught the attention of their stupid friends and girlfriends. All she needed was someone dumb enough to help her to find what she needed before Stefan’s arrival in Mystical Falls.  
Henry had been clear about it.  
First the thing they needed, secondly the arrival of the Hunter, thirdly… well, the third move would be a pleasure surprise.  
The door at her back opened and she heard the footsteps of three man behind her. She turned around and she saw that her two mediocre hunters-killers had been able to take to her only one sinner, only one meal.  
‘Disappointing… Stefan and Henry are definitely better than them’ she thought.

“Could this meal satisfy you ?” asked Damon pushing the man right inside the pool.

‘Boor’ Sybil thought.  
Well she would be happier to eat Damon alive when she would be done with him.  
Stefan wouldn’t deny it to her.  
She hadn’t seen him in a long time but she knew, or at least guessed, that Stefan hated Damon for what had happened.  
Sybil herself hated Seline after a century spent living as a Sinner Huntress and Stefan wouldn’t be different. They were all the same, they tried, year after year, to be good but in then end darkness penetrated inside their heart, even if they hadn’t chose for that kind of life, it had been imposed, by their siblings in that case.  
‘Family… such a burden… I’m glade that Seline’s burning in Hell’ she thought.  
She stopped to sing for a moment, while her next victim stayed still at the center of the pool, looking at her but not seeing her. Without any knowledge of where he was or why.

“Well, You have been out there for hours and this guy is the best you could find ? You’ll make me starving”

“It wouldn’t be a problem. You put weight, for a moment I didn’t recognize you last night” said Damon sit down on a deckchair while Enzo remained silent.

“Why isn’t Stefan here ? He would be such a better Hunter than you”

Damon assumed a furious expression on his face while Enzo made a grimace.  
Interesting, apparently the British sweet out there didn’t like hearing things about Stefan, the true little brother of Damon, while the other was nothing more than the substitute of the youngest of Salvatore.  
Sybil had read Enzo’s mind enough to know he feared that once Stefan would come for Damon, he would be thrown away by Damon to take his brother back.  
Totally understandable. Stefan had everything Enzo wanted for himself and that was why he hoped Stefan not to come here.  
Well, Sybil had not time to waste about Enzo’s insecurities, she had a meal to finish.  
Sybil made the man floating on the water. The man’s face didn’t express nothing, but she could hear the fear growing inside the man’s heart.

“Well… Fear is delicious… Boo !!”

She grabbed the man by his shoulders and dipped him into the water, nullifying the effects of her songs on him. The man started to struggle, to push her away from her but Sybil was simply too strong.  
’Look at me now, little sister. Who’s the weakest of the two now ?’ thought Sybil when she scratched the man’s jacket and bite him on the chest so strong that his blood came out immediately, while the man was still struggling to save himself.  
Sybil looked up at him, smirking, showing her teeth dirty of his blood while some little piece of his fish was still on her chin.

“Am I not beautiful love ?” asked her kissing on his direction.

‘Am I not beautiful Seline ? You’ll always be my favorite piece of meat’ though Sybil biting the man again, this time on his face, grabbing with her teeth the flesh on his cheek and tearing it aways with her teeth.  
Human flesh was so delicious… specially when her victims were so afraid of her.  
She thought she could never forgive Seline for having made her become a cannibal, but Sybil wasn’t a good girl anymore and she wasn’t human anymore, she was a Siren, an Huntress, and she could never be able to live without flesh and blood anymore.  
They were too delicious.  
’Thank you Seline, to have made me who I am’, she thought looking at the silver ring around her fingers. It was hateful for Sybil admitting that if she was where she was if was only due to Seline’s cruelty, she hated that she owned all the power she gained because of that whore, she hated that once she had loved that nasty little girl, she hated that she had considered Selling her family once.  
‘Well… I’ve a better family now’ said Sybil who scratched the men’s abdomen and then she tore the flesh away and brought it to her mouth.  
Henry… Stefan… Tyallah… Agatha… Alistair…  
They were a family, sometimes she could still hear their thoughts, sometimes she could still feel them as part of her soul.  
She looked at the corpse under the water.  
The water no longer transparent, but red and some parts of the man’s body gagged over the water.  
She smiled.  
That blood indicated that the man belonged to someone, a family who would miss him maybe. Well, Sybil had learnt twice that family wasn’t always about love, family was a connection, family was a link that bounded a person eternally to you, a person who would never be able to hurt you because there would always something that would stop him to do it.  
Unfortunately, before to create another family it was necessary discarded the previous one.  
And when Stefan would rip Damon apart, and Henry would finally find the strength to burn down his entire family, and she would finally kill Cade, they would be a family, linked by flesh, blood and revenge.  
‘But for now, I’ve to finish my meal’.  
From his empty eyes, Damon looked at the scene in front of him, a cruel smirk that hide the disgust he really felt for that macabre scenario.  
Suddenly he felt so alone, even with Enzo in his same situation. He looked at the girl eating and ripping that corpse and he hoped that Stefan would never come there.  
What if Sybil was planning to eat him alive like that over and over again ? What did Sybil want from him ?  
He could smell the blood inside the pool and for the first time he felt disgusted by blood. He wanted to go away but his body didn’t obey to him anymore.  
He wanted to come back to his… family, Elena and the other. He hoped they would come to him, that they would help him to find a solution, that Stefan wouldn’t come instead. He didn’t want that his former family to be tortured by that horrible woman. It had to be an horrible way to die and now he wondered if Stefan had become able to kill someone like that. He wondered if the next time he saw his brother he would see someone different that he remembered.  
He wandered if he could found the same light of madness inside his brother’s eyes and if he could save him this time.  
…

Henry wasn’t glad to be there, in Hell. It was a place he hated with all himself. He could feel the pain, the sins, and the screams of the sinners all around him but he had to be there. He had to talk with two people who were there.  
Hell had been built as a sort of labyrinth, and there were Cade’s monsters hide everywhere, ready to attack, kill and torture everyone who appeared in front of them.  
Only the Devil and the Hunters didn’t risk to be attacked by one of those abominations.  
That was why Henry looked so confident when he arrived in front of a big building with black wall and without any windows.  
There was only one giant gate and in front of them there were two monsters. Henry didn’t know their exactly names, in called them the Guardians because that type of monsters were only in front of the doors of buildings.  
They were tall, at least three meters, with dirty white flash. with red cute and wound spread over their bodies. At the center of their bodies there was a giant black heart with black veins branched over their shoulders and along the upper abdomen. They had an oval face with one big eye at the center that could see better than one hundred pairs of humans eyes. They kept a silver spear in one of their hand and they were ready to use it against everyone who dared to go against Cade’s will.  
When they saw Henry they pointed their weapons against him.

‘Why are you here, Henry Knight, hunter and slave of our master ?’ they asked using telepathy.

They couldn’t talk, they were there only to guard the gate and attacked any intrude.

“I’m here to visit a prisoner. The Devil gave me his permission”

It wasn’t a lie. Cade gave him the permissions to see his owns victims’ souls when he wanted. This peculiar prisoner wasn’t a common sinner but he had killed him anyw. And it wouldn’t be convenient for Henry to lie to the Guardians. They breathed sins every seconds of their existence, they would know if Henry tried to lie to them.

‘You will have to pay a pledge to pass’.

Henry smirked and then he took his amulet off his neck and gave it to one of the Guardians.  
The two Guardians began to absorb the sins inside his amulet and their hearts swelled and pumped the sins so they stumbled along the black veins.  
The gate opened and the Guardians made Henry sing to enter.

‘We will give you the amulet when you return’.

Henry nodded before to enter inside the building. It was a precaution taking away his amulet. Henry couldn’t let Hell without him and if he dared to do something wrong he would remained there for the eternity.  
Henry knew exactly where to go. His mother was located in a prison at the second floor that could only be reached through a stone staircase that was at the end of the corridor on the west side, where were kept sinners guilty of betrayal toward their friends.  
He arrived at the second floor, fourth cell to the left.  
Henry smirked at the only thought of what he was going to see.

“Hello, old friend. Are you in the mood for a little chat ?”

‘What if I don’t want to speak with you, boy ?’ asked a voice inside Herny’s head.

Henry smirked and said “I hoped you’d say so… _Etsi wesrat khedekareb emi. Emi nebratronak nüllaan. Etsi an nat ashgagna non dünasse. Emi nebratronak! ”_  
(I have the power to kill. I am your master now. You cannot fight. I am your master).

…

Klaus hadn’t slept at all that night. He spent all the night brooding over the situation, pondering whether was the right thing to do.  
Well, he knew what was the right thing to do actually. He should go to his siblings and tell them the truth about Henrik, or at least the one about Stefan. He should tell his siblings that Stefan was a Sinner Hunter, that he knew where Henrik was, that Henrik had been sold by their mother to the Devil as exchange goods for their depart.  
His siblings had all the right to know the truth, but Klaus couldn’t avoid to think about the current situation.  
His entire family needed to focus this attention on Marcel. Tomorrow they were going to fight against him they could’t let anything to distract them or they would die all.  
It might be selfish, but Henry had been a Sinner Hunter for over a millennium, one day more wouldn’t hurt him for sure.  
History speaking, keeping secrets with his siblings had never been a smart thing to do, but he had to.  
He was looking Elijah and Rebekah training the recruits while he was waiting for Hayley to arrive. She was in Hope’s bedroom and she was preparing her baggages.  
Both Hayley and Klaus decided to send Hope away from New Orleans before midday. It hurt them abandoning her again but they had no other choices. If Marcel won and Klaus died, all the enemies of both of them would come there and they would try to hurt anyone Klaus loved, included his daughter.  
The first of them was Alistair Duquesne.  
Klaus had may lost the most of his allies but the few he left had warned him that Alistair was going to New Orleans. Alistair had spies in New Orleans already, he probably knew what Klaus and Hayley were planning to do, that was why they gave Mary specific instructions and only to her.

“Are you nervous for tomorrow ?” asked Hayley arriving at his back.

“I would be less nervous if I’d know you will go away with Hope”

“You know I can’t. I ran away once and Hope has spent five years of her life without her father”

“You had any other choice”

“There was always a choice, you know it. Marcel talked about a weapon capable of killing an Origina. Hope can’t lose his family again, I can’t lose all of you again. You are my family now, all of you. Maybe we are not a conventional one, but here we are.”

Klaus smiled. Hayley was a stubborn woman and Klaus knew better then trying to change her mind. He would never admit but he was glad that she was here with him. She was a perfect partner for him, she fronted him without fear, she defended her ideas, she knew how to prove she was right when she was. She was a confident too, someone who could give him advices and she understood him deeply.  
He couldn’t see her as the woman of his life, but he could definitely see her as the mother of his daughter. And he was glad she finally considered him and his siblings as her family, specially because he thought it would never happened.

“I want to talk to her. I want to hug her before she left” said Klaus.

“Go, family is important. I understood it thanks to all of you and Hope will be happy to spent some time with you. God knows when we will see her again” said Hayley.

Klaus nodded then he ran toward Hope’s room. The little girl was drowning sitting on the carpet, with the pencils and the colors spread around her.  
Klaus sat in front of her and looked at her with eyes full of love.  
He could have never thought he was capable of loving someone this way, unconditionally, without limits, wanting nothing more than her to be happy and safe.  
Hope changed him, just thinking about her pushing him to be a better man, to be the father she reversed him to be. She was his true family, she belonged to him and still he didn’t consider her a possession as he had done with his other siblings and Marcel. She was his everything and the only thought that he was going to be separated from her again was hurting him.  
But it was for her own safety, he preferred not to see ever again than knowing that she died or got hurt because of him and his past.  
He and his family had done a lot of mistakes in the past centuries and now they were paying for everything, but he didn’t want that Hope would pay for her father’s mistakes.  
He didn’t want that his legacy for Hope would be a bunch of enemies ready to kill her or torture her. He wanted her to have a better life.  
He looked at the paper where she was drowning on and he saw she was drowning them, her far parents, her family. She was concentrated on replying the features of his face.

“It’s beautiful, my little wold, you know” said Klaus.

“Thank you Dad. I hope it’ll keep me company when we will be separated from each other. Is it really necessary ?” asked Eri looking at him with sad eyes.

“It is my precious. I need to know you’re safe and sound. I have to keep you save, you and all my family”

“Then why do I have to leave the town alone ? Why can’t we leave the town together ? Why can’t I stay here with you ?”

“Because, my little wolf, very bad things are going to happen tomorrow and I don’t want you to be involved. I don’t want you to see your father doing bad things.”

“Dad… I know you had done bad things, okay ? It doesn’t matter, I don’t care at all, I still love you and I don’t want to go away”

“Hope…”

Klaus didn’t know what to say. Hearing Hope saying that things about him made him the happiest man of the world.  
He hadn’t talked with Hope about the man he used to be, he considered his daughter unprepared and too young to know that her father used to be the nearest thing to a psychopath with delusions of grandeur. He wanted her to believe that he was a knight with shining armor.  
He hugged her as from that hug depended his own life and somehow it was like that. She was his daughter, she was his life and he loved her with all his heart.

“Can I ask you a favor ? Can I see Eri one last time before my leaving ? I want to see her one last time”

“You’re really fond of her aren’t you ?” asked Klaus smiling.

“I am. She’s the only friend I’ve ever had and she’s wonderful. Did you make up with her father ?”

“We did. We can go to visit them, if you want. You deserve to see your friend one last time before your living”

“Thanks !!” exclaimed Hope hugging even tighter.

Klaus would give up everything he had to see smile like that ever again.  
She was his family and he would keep her safe always and forever.

…

Henry wasn’t glad of what he had learnt few minutes ago, they weren’t exactly good news but at least his old friend told him something more. Unfortunately he would have to change part of his future plans if he wanted to get what he wanted. And he was determinate, now more than ever before, to find what he needed.  
He would talk with both Sybil and Stefan, they would find a way together to resolve that little problem but they would.  
Now, he had to talk to someone else first. His lovely Pater, Cade.  
Cade’s Mansion was located at the center of the labyrinth, it was the biggest building of Hell, surrounded by an imposing wall, with a gate that could only be opened with his the power of his amulet.  
The Mansion had five floors and Cade’s room was at the fifth floor on the on the east side. But something in him was telling that the Devil wasn’t waiting him there in that moment.  
No, the Devil was inside the room of the memorabilia. It was called like that because in that room there vere various pedestals with coffers on that and in each of these coffers there were an object, a memorabilia that symbolized the life of each Hunters before, when they were free, when they didn’t have to kill in the Devil’s name.  
Those memorabilia symbolized the innocence, the purity and the light who lived in the hearts of his sons and daughter and that remembered to Cade that he was the one to conquer those things, the one who had marked the soul of their owner forever and that made them more like monsters than humans.  
Henry had no idea how Cade managed to take that trophies, he didn’t even know what was his own memorabilia and he didn’t care.  
It represented the life he used to live, the past, the family he could never have back and that he didn’t want to have anymore.  
He didn’t want to be his siblings’s littlest brother anymore. He was ready to start a new life again,  
He went inside the mansion and he didn’t waste his time looking at the macabre paintings on the wall or at the expensive and elegant furnitures. Cade loved spoiling himself and Henry couldn’t blame him.  
If he was the King of an entire dimension he would spoil himself this way and even more.  
He arrived at the room of memorabilia. An empty room with all the pedestals and the scoffers inside and nothing else. Cade was patting his fingers on the surface of one of the coffers.

“I wasn’t waiting you, my boy. Why are you here ?”

“I’m here because you’ve violated a part of our agreement and because of this my family’s searching for me and I don’t want it”

“Why not, my boy ? You have used the Verbis Diablo a lot recently, I know you’re hiding something from me and I know you and Stefan are talking to each other more than you have ever done before.”

“We have a common goal, daddy. Me and Stefan had finally understood how much family is important. Stefan told Klaus all the truth you know ?”

Cade smirked “He’s the Prodigal Son, but I can assure you, the son will be reunited with the Father really soon”

“I have Stefan wrapped around my finger. Sometimes the partnership between two brothers is stronger between the ones with the parents. But guess what ? With my help you can have both my brother and my mummy back”

“I can take them back on my own, I don’t need you” said Cade turning toward him.

“You can have them back but it would be futile if their trust and loyalty are not be yours anyway.”

Cade smiled vanished. He knew Henry was right but he knew his heart. Henry wasn’t completely lost, not yet, not enough to burn in Hell forever, but his heart was dark enough to make him a cruel guy. Henry had become cynical, cruel, manipulative, backstabber, selfish… the list was long, a son worthy of the Devil’s affection. If Cade could still feel affection for someone other than himself.  
Suddenly he was curious to know what extent his son was willing to arrive, if Henry was capable of betraying the one who had been his father for over a millennium.  
He was curious, terribly curious to see what kind of mess his family were planning against to him. Oh he had already some scenarios in his mind and he died in the most of them and nevertheless he found them all fascinating, terribly fascinating.  
Sybil and Henry were near to the edge of losing themselves forever, another little pushed would send them right inside the Hell forever and at that point they would live only by his mercy.  
Stefan was another matter. There was still a lot light inside his heart, of course he was a murderer, he was cold killer when he wanted to be, but he was still to attached to his former family. Stefan wasn’t ready to give up on his humanity, on his former life, on his feelings.  
He had meet his soul to save, his hope to be saved was strong and Cade for now could only hope that Klaus made something wrong.

“How can you help me Henry ?”

“I know my brother. If he’s cruel at least half of me, it will be enough a little push to make him doing something wrong if he survive tomorrow.”

“In change of what my dear ?”

“A good fuck… Incest is a sin I will never be tired of and I want you to make my family stop to look for me in case they survive.” said Henry coming closer to Cade and putting his hands on his shoulders.

“Do you want my permission of doing whatever you want with your family don’t you ?” asked Cade touching Henry’s face.

“Whatever I’ll do, I promise, you’ll be proud of me, daddy.”

Then Henry kissed Cade, a promise of false devotion, of a silent revenge against the past he used to have and that someone had taken away form him. A touch made of blood and sins, of an unwanted story that Henry wanted to burn in Hell forever.  
‘I hope you’ll be proud of me… Father…”


	22. The fragility of certainty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stefan used to be certain of few things of his life; he was certain that he would have fallen in love with a gentle guy, whose lovely heart would always beat for him; then he was certain that he would never escape darkness; then he was certain that he would never fall for Klaus; now the day before the final battle, he finds out that all his certainties are fragile, and like a falling glass jar, they are shattering.  
> Klaus used to have his own certainties too, but now he doesn't know if he can survive after the fight with Marcel, if he could see his daughter again and above all he's not sure about how dealing with his feelings for the Sinner Hunter.  
> Elena Gilbert knows that Damon usually lie about a lot of things and nevertheless she was certain that Damon loves her anyway. Now she know that she's risking to find out something that could compromise her love for Damon and shatter all the things she knows about him.

  
CHAPTER 22

“Did you take a decision about what you want to do ?” asked Stefan looking at the crowd under his balcony.

New Orleans was alive under his eyes. People were simply what they were created to be. Creature of flesh, blood and with a beating heart, not corpse, not damned souls, not sacrificial victims for a false Devil.  
Stefan envied them with all his heart.  
Normal people’ life had its limit. Someone was smart enough and made good choices that provided him a decent life, sometime beautiful even, perfect. Other instead wasted the greatest gift God gave to them and nevertheless they remained luckier than him.  
Normal people made bad choices on their own and only on their own, and when they made them, they didn’t fear the consequences, because the didn’t believe that a place like Hell could really exist.  
Stefan, on the other hand, had to think about any choice he made carefully, he wasn’t free of think what he wanted, wish what he wanted or kill what he wanted.  
Stefan knew what was so intriguing and fascinating about murdering someone.  
Decide the fate of the people, chose if his victim had to die or live, was the nearest thing that make anyone else feeling like a God.  
It gave you power, it made you feel invincible, it made you a monster for someone, and a delectable creature for others.  
Curious how everything in the world could have more than a meaning.  
Klaus was at his side. The fallen king of a city unaware of its fate was near a slave.  
The destiny had definitively a sick irony sometimes.

“Do you want to know if I’m planning to say to my siblings the truth about you and Henrik ?”

“No. I knew you had already made your choice about it. You may are a better man but this doesn’t change the fact that your daughter is in danger because of you and that your siblings, with a proper distraction, could leave you behind to save their lives and abandoning you forever.”

Klaus punched him with a strength that could brake any men’s neck, but Stefan laughed at him.  
Truth was always so painful, specially for people too proud for accepting it.  
Stefan looked at the blond and he wondered again about the feelings he held for him.  
Stefan hadn’t hesitated to tell him the truth, he had’t hesitated to hurt his feelings, so he wandered if he could hesitated to hurt him under other circumstances.  
People didn’t hurt the ones they loved, so Stefan didn’t love Klaus.  
Klaus smirked. Stefan was so easy to read sometime. The blond knew what kind of thoughts Stefan had in that little head.  
The little brat was trying to understand what were his feelings for him, if they were real, if they did actually exist, if they… if Stefan could still feel something truly for someone.

“Then what do you want to know ?”

“If you have chosen that, after all this story will be over, whether you’re going to kill me or save me from Hell”

“You said yourself I can’t kill you”

“You’re stubborn and determinate. You can find a way to kill me. So, what’s really stopping you ? And don’t you dare to say Henrik, because your brother is not the reason.”

And Klaus had been tempted to punch him again “I’m not like you Stefan. I’ve no fear to say that I’ve feelings for you. But of course my feelings wouldn’t be te right answer either.”

“Maybe you should just ask what you want. But I warn you, I’ve already known”

“Then you want me to say it because you want me to beg for what I want ?”

“No. Because you know that what you want wouldn’t be fair, but still you want me to do it. You know your limits, you know that you’re weaker than Marcel. You know you can die !! I can’t. I can easily kill Marcel and let his soul burn in Hell if I want.”

“But still you hadn’t killed him. Why ? Is Marcel important for the Devil’s plan ?”

Stefan remained silent. He knew if he talked he would say something too much, something he would regret. Something he wasn’t ready to admit even to himself.  
He hadn’t killed Marcel for Klaus, not for himself, even if his death could have saved him a lot of troubles. If Marcel died or more specifically, if Stefan killed him, he would have lost Klaus’ forever.  
Stefan knew what the Beast meant for the blond, Stefan knew that Klaus wouldn’t accept it, that his soul would be darker, that his soul to save would be lost forever.  
And Stefan didn’t want hurt him, only because he was capable of. He didn’t want to hurt him only because he had the power. That was the great difference between him and Klaus or Cade.  
Klaus had taken his power for granted, Cade used his power over him and his ‘brothers’ to manipulate them, to make them obedient.  
He used the power because he could and wanted.  
Cade was a monster more human than he was willing to accept.

“Marcel is not important for Cade, believe me. Cade doesn’t give a damn about anyone but himself”

“Cade. So the Devil has a name, fascinating. Don't distract me though, you haven’t answered me yet”

“Marcel is important for you Klaus. And you are important for me and you know it. And my answer is no anyway”

“Why ?”

Klaus had expected that answer, but it didn’t erase the disappointment anyway.

“Tyallah will be here tomorrow. She will try to kill Freya and who knows what else she wants here. I have to find her. Klaus. She’s my… sister.”

“Sister ?” asked Klaus a little bit skeptical.

“We are all an unholy big wicked family” joked Stefan.

Klaus didn’t find the concept funny at all. He didn’t know what he had got into, but he had to admit that Stefan was right.  
Tanya or whatever her name was, was too dangerous for them. She was an huntress and only Stefan could handle her. Klaus was feeling useless and weak as he used to feel when he was human. When his father used to beat him senseless and there was nothing he could do to stop him.  
Stefan understood how the blond was feeling, so he kissed him. He didn’t even ask for permission, not because he didn’t have to, but because he wanted Klaus to taste the desperation behind the kiss.  
Stefan wanted to Klaus to be aware of his submission.  
That was something Stefan hadn’t done with Cade either.  
He was submitting himself to Klaus.  
Normally Stefan would never do something like this. He always waited other to ask him if he wanted to be kissed or not, if they could touch him or not. In few words he was always the one who lead, the dominant one.  
He began the kiss because Klaus was different, Stefan wanted him to be different.  
Klaus grabbed Stefan’s chin and forced his lips to open up. His tongue was demanding, he wanted to explore and marked at same time every single part of the lovely mouth.  
Klaus bitted that wonderful velvet lips, he sucked them, he let them became red like the blood.  
He grabbed Stefan’s face and pushed his mouth closer to his.

“I hope you’re going to survive, love…”

“Darkness are part of me… And I will be happy to drown in yours and let them be part of me”

“Good… then don’t be afraid…”

Klaus touched with his lips the soft skin of Stefan’s neck, right on the jugular. He could feel the beat of that gentle heart, and he loved it.  
Klaus licked the skin, he sucked, he kissed and Stefan didn’t try to hide his pleasure.  
Klaus loved those little moans, he loved the sensation of Stefan’s fingers thought his hairs, he loved that those moans were for him, for his lips and not for someone else.  
Stefan knew that it was dangerous, that he should have let Eri use the Verbis Diablo on him before doing something like this with Klaus.  
That Cade would find out and that he would punish him, but Stefan couldn’t care less.  
He loved feeling Klaus’ tongue on his neck too much and he was grateful that Lexi was out somewhere and that Hope and Eri were in the bedroom.  
Stefan only now realized that he had been longing for a moment like this.  
Klaus was kissing him because he liked him, maybe he felt even something deeper for him. It wasn’t only a gesture to mark his dominance over him as Cade, it wasn’t a gesture of pure lust without feelings as Katherine.  
And now, in Klaus’ arms he felt alive after a long time, like he was starting to breath again. Klaus could do whatever he wanted to him right now and Stefan would let him do it.  
Suddenly Klaus bitted him deep in the jugular and Stefan could feel werewolf venom entered inside his body, marking his blood, becoming a part of him.  
And he didn’t feel pain, or at least nothing he couldn’t handle, nothing that it couldn’t making him moan even louder.  
Klaus could fall in love with him only for moaning like the for him. Stefan wasn’t trying to escape from him, wasn’t pushing him away, at the contrary.  
Stefan was hugging him, holding him tight, showing to accept his love but also the poison and the death that could come with it.  
And Klaus wanted it after all. He wanted someone who wasn’t afraid of the darkness inside him, who didn’t fear his touch, who could save him and his soul from the eternal damnation.  
‘I love you…’ Stefan thought.  
Darkness were devouring him and Stefan hoped not to ever come back to surface.

…

Hope and Eri were in the bedroom and the little ginger girl was showing Hope her book spell.  
Hope noticed that various spell were written in Japanese or some oriental language she didn’t know and sometimes she asked Eri to translate them for her.  
Hope was fascinated by those spells and that Japanese culture. During the five years spent in finding a cure for saving her family, she had travelled a lot with her mother, they’ve travelled around America and sometimes in Europe but never in Asia.  
A nevertheless Hope had always being fascinated by manga, anime and their kimonos.

“How long have you lived in Japan ?” asked Hope.

“Five years. But then my pack escaped. During that period some hunters were hunting us. So we had to escape. I’ve come back there, with my otōsan, but only for few weeks. We travelled a lot, that’s it”

“Don’t you feel homesick ?”

“No. I haven’t so much good memories of Japan and my otōsan is my home. He’s everything that matters for me. This is why i can’t abandon him, even when life becomes complicated because of his job”

“I’m going to leave soon. My father said that I have no choice. But I don’t want to go away. I know what’s coming but I don’t want to stay away from my family anyway”

“My father will protect your family, don’t worry about it Hope. And I’m going to help him too and so oba Lexi. It’s a promise”

Hope smiled to her and then she took her hand. Eri was surprised that Hope stil had the courage of taking her hand that way.  
People usually avoided kitsune when they could. No one wanted to have anything to do with a creature that lie, trick and deceive by nature.  
Of course, all people lied and nevertheless they got hurt every time someone hid the truth.  
In the end, everyone loved truth but few had the courage to look for it.  
But kitsunes… they lived for lying to people, they could be dangerous for people’s mind because the could make looking real even the greatest lie.  
Eri wasn’t an hypocrite, she would be a lair if she said that she hadn’t thought of manipulating Hope’s mind, she was young after all. Perfectly manipulating.  
But Eri didn’t want it. Her father wouldn’t have wanted it.

“Eri… why do I think that you know something more than me about what’s happening ? And why do I feel you don’t want to tell me the truth ? Please, I’m seven not stupid”

“Because you’re a smart little girl Hope.”

“Mum said that I’m too smart for my own good.”

“No one is too smart for his own good. We are always too stupid and blind about anything. We see what we want to see, there’s one truth behind any wall of lies but we still pick the bricks we want and destroy the ones we don’t like. The point is… whaT do you exactly want to know from me ?” asked Eri.

“Will all my family die tomorrow ? Will they win the war ?”

Eri smiled, then she kissed Hope forehead.  
Eri wasn’t young as she looked, and sometimes she couldn’t avoid to see Hope more like a little niece than a friend.  
Of course Hope wasn’t asking that. No. Eri had to interpret what she really wanted to know.  
Will be Marcel cruel enough to take both the parents away from a daughter ?  
Will she see her family again tomorrow ?  
Will Stefan be strong enough to protect her family ?

“Who’s threatening my family Eri ? Who’s hurting you father ?”

“I can’t tell you this. But I promise… you will be safe”

Then she used the Verbis diablo on Hope.

…

Elena curled the nose for disgust. It didn’t matter how many time she had already seen a corpse like that, with all the blood around, the mutilated juggler, the tedious smell… She would never get used to it. Sometimes she felt disgusted for herself for the time when she considered the blood appealing and she was grateful that now she was human again.  
Unfortunately Damon wasn’t ready to be human like her, not yet.  
Certainly now he was far from behaving like a decent human being. Elena had seen Damon killing too much time for not recognize when he was the responsible for the death of someone.  
That corpse, the wounds, the bite, the ferocity, everything screamed of Damon. Everything.  
She was examining the corpse of a brunette girl, she still had her clothes on but they were all dirty with blood and ripped off at different points.

“And he hasn’t had lunch alone. Do you think that Enzo and the woman were with him ?” asked Elena to Alaric.

Matt had found the bodies of four or five people in a swimming pool in Mystic Falls, but he hadn’t warned the authority, even if he was risking to lose his job because of this.  
But he had seen people massacred by vampires too much too not to recognize when someone dying bleeding to satisfy te appetite of a beast.

“Do you think that it has been Damon ? Of doing…”

“I think that it’s a useless question Rick. We both know his mark too well. We should try to understand if he had done anything alone or with someone else”

“Look at the corpse in the pool. They have been ripped apart. The pool is a blood bath and there are various libs androgens floating on the surface. I agree with you about a this corpse, but I think that the rest has to be blame on the lady”

“What are you saying ? That this she is a cannibal ?” asked Elena in disbelief.

“Do you have any other explanation ?”

“Who would eat his own kind ?”

“Since ancient times, cannibalism has been a perverse act of dominance and power. Those who ate their enemies were convinced of feeding of their strength and affirming their supremacy at the same time. The lady probably doesn’t have a great consideration of humans.”

’Neither do Damon’ Elena thought.  
She was grateful that Rick was there with her in that moment. She wasn’t convinced that she could put it up all that situation alone.  
She hoped that Caroline was having more luck with her daughters. In that moment Lizzie and Josie knew the “lady” better then anyone of them.  
They had seen her face, they probably had hear her say something, or seen something important that could led them to her.  
Elena knew that Damon was dangerous but she also knew that the vampire had changed, that he was a good man now. That he had been changing for her. She knew that he loved her and that she wouldn’t be glad to know he came back to old habits.  
Damon promised her not to hurt her again and she believed him.  
She was also convinced that the lady had done something to control Damon’s mind as she did with Enzo.

“There’s nothing here. Nothing useful. I wan…”

Elena was going to ask to go away when her cell rang. She snorted. She was so focused on the macabre scene that the cell made her jump.  
She answered without seeing who was calling her.

“Hello ?”

“Hi Elena. I’ve no time to waste with you so I will be brief. I need to talk to Damon but he keeps on avoiding all my calls. Can I talk to him ?”

Elena rolled her eyes.  
What did Kol Mikaelson want from her boyfriend ?  
Why was he looking for him ?  
The thing was that Kol looked very frustrated for the situation, so whatever he wanted from Damon it had to be important.

“I don’t know where he is, Kol. He disappeared”

Right to the point.  
She maybe did a mistake by telling Kol that, or maybe not. Maybe the Originals could help them this time, specially Kol who had a lot of things to be forgiven for.  
She really needed to find Damon. He hadn’t answered her calls since he disappeared, now sh found a place full of corpse and one of the victims belonged to Damon, she was certain of this.

“What do you mean ? How could he disappear ? When ?”

“I’m sorry. I can’t say a lot but I know that someone, a woman, kidnapped him and obliged him to kill. I’m in front one of his recent victims now”

“It sounds so much convenient for me”

“Convenient for what ? Or Who ?”

If she had a terrible headache before, now Kol wasn’t helping her.

“I mean that his little brother has been hiding something from me. Something that I want and I hoped that Damon could have helped me. Curious that when I finally decided to call Damon, he disappears”

Few minutes passed before Elena could perfectly get what Kol had said.  
He said… little brother ? Impossible. Damon didn’t have any brother, he would have told her. She knew that he had a step brother and that Zac was his nephew but he died. So what did it mean ?  
What did Kol want ? What was so important to push someone to kidnap two vampires and make them kill innocent people ?

“Kol… Damon doesn’t have any brother. Trust me, I would know”

Kol laughed and then he said “When will you learn that Damon is a man full of secrets ? Of course he couldn’t tell you that his little brother was… well… pretty dangerous for people like him”

Those words hurt her like one thousand stabs. Why did she always have to find out Damon’s secrets by other people ?  
What was Kol’s point in lying ?  
Why couldn’t Damon be sincere with her ? Why did he always have to hide something from her ?  
He hid his brother from her, why ? Kol had said that Damon’s brother was dangerous for people like him. What did he want to say ?  
Was Damon’s brother an hunter ? Or someone who wanted revenge on him ?  
If Damon had never talked to her about his little brother it meant that something terrible had happened between the two guy or a lot of things couldn’t be explained. Elena felt frustrated. She did have a lot of things to ask to Damon and God only knew how much worried she was for him.

“Listen Kol, I don’t know anything about another younger Salvatore. What I know is that Damon is out there and that he’s killing people again. If you believe to know something I don’t, please tell me or …”

“Listen. I don’t think I should be the one to tell you the truth because I’m not sure myself. I can say to you that I met his younger brother and I believe that he’s dangerous for people like him.”

“Like what ?”

“People who does bad things.”

Elena blinked. What the hell did it mean ?  
People did bad things all the time. People lied, people got angry and made other people got angry themselves. People had bad behave. People…  
She couldn’t think about anyone who wasn’t guilty of something.  
She wasn’t understanding anything, she felt confused, and her headache was even more painful now.  
Too much questions without answers and the person who could give her them disappeared.  
‘I want you here with me Damon’, Elena thought.

“He’s not doing bad things on purpose or for his own pleasure. He’s under the influence…”

It was weak from her. It seemed more like she was trying to find a justification for what he was doing.  
It was what she usually do when Damon did something wrong, something unforgivable, but she tried to justify him, because she loved him, because deep down in her heart she knew she didn’t accept Damon for who he was.  
Not now that she was human and he wasn’t.  
How could she love someone she couldn’t accept ? How could she love someone who kept to lie to her ? Who hide from her nothing less than his brother ? His family ?

“I don’t care. I only called you because I want informations but apparently you know even less than me. If you find Damon, ask him if his brother is a Sinner Hunter.”

“I will. I will tell you if I find out something more. Now… now I have to go”

She closed the call before Kol could reply. She didn’t want to listen anything else. She wasn’t even sure if she was really going to call Kol or not.  
But now that she was thinking about his words accurately, she remembered that he had said something that could be important.  
Sinner Hunter.  
She should ask Alaric if he knew something about this name even if she had already had an idea.

…

Caroline was sitting on chair, with elbows leaning on the table, a tired expression on the youthful face. She was looking her two daughters while they were eating the lunch she had prepared for them.  
They were beautiful, they were her life, and she had risked to lose them forever.  
And it was only Damon’s fault. Maybe she was sounding unreasonable, but in that moment her anger made her blind in front of anything.  
Bonnie was sitting next to her and she wasn’t in a better mood than the blond.  
Enzo had been kidnapped by the same unknown lady who took Damon too.  
Bonnie had hated before, too many times than she would have wanted.  
She had hated horrible person like Katherine Piers, Klaus, his family, Silas, Kai and now she hated that faceless woman who had been using her boyfriend as a puppet. She had been abusing of him, using him, keeping away from people who loved him.  
She was keeping him away from her most of all.  
She was there, sitting next to Caroline, because she didn’t want to be alone, she didn’t want to leave Caroline alone even.  
Elena and Alaric had gone out to see some corpses that had been found in a swimming pool and Bonnie didn’t want to go there with them.  
She couldn’t.  
She didn’t want to see a poor person killed by her boyfriend, see what he had done, what he had been obliged to do.  
They had been together for a short period of time, but she knew he was important to her. But she was also scared to see something that it could make her feel confused about her love.

“Mommy, are you angry with us ?” asked Josie with a little hesitation.

“Yes mommy. Are you angry because we had walked away with that stranger woman ?” asked Lizzie.

“No, honeys. It wasn’t your fault. But I’m really curious to know something more about your new friends. Has she been nice to you ?” asked Caroline forcing a smile.

Caroline wanted to know everything about that hateful woman who had dared to kidnap her daughters under her nose.  
But she forced a smile anyway. She didn’t want her daughters to think that she was blaming them for something they weren’t guilty for.  
Damon was the one to blame. Damon and this stupid bitch who she wanted to hit on the face.

“She’s really beautiful, mommy. And she has a beautiful smile that made us smile with her.” said Josie.

“She also is a wonderful singer. She sang a lot of songs, something in a strange language. But she was wonderful anyway.” said Lizzie.

“She’s beautiful ah ? How she looks like ?” asked Caroline trying not to show her jealously.

“She’s a brunette. And she’s tall” said Josie

“And she had two beautiful brown eyes” continued Lizzie.

Caroline felt that she was going to brake the table if she hears again the word “beautiful” referred to that woman.  
Maybe she was acting irrational and childish due to the recent events but she couldn’t get over the fact that this woman had taken her daughters and that both Lizzie and Josie could speak well of her.  
Beautiful this… beautiful that...  
That woman wasn’t beautiful, that woman was a monster, an heartless monster who Caroline wanted to kill so badly.

“Did she say her name to you ?” asked Bonnie.

“Something like Seline or Seryna. It started with S anyway” answered Lizzie.

“Did she tell you her last name ?”

“No” answered both Lizzie and Josie at the same time.

“Do you remember something of the place where she took you ?” asked Bonnie.

Josie nodded “Yes, we could hear the rumor of the water. It was like we were under the water, you know ?”

“But she didn’t let us get out.”

“Why ?” asked Bonnie.

“She said it would have been dangerous. A good thing since we didn’t know where we were anyway.” answered Lizzie.

“Yea, I guess so. At least she had the decency of keeping you safe from other dangers” commented Caroline with venom while she was taking her cell.

“But what do you exactly mean when you say that you could hear the rumor of the water ?”

“It was like we were underwater. Like there was water everywhere around us. In fact you couldn’t see anything out the windows. You couldn’t even open them”

Caroline and Bonnie shared a look.  
This lady probably lived in a house partially immersed in the water.  
Caroline could think about the Falls, the waterfall in Mystic Falls or the lake.  
But how could someone manage to built an entire building underwater without anyone in the town noticing it ?  
Mystic Falls was big ut not so big not to notice and speak about a newcomer.  
She needed to know something more but she didn’t want to leave the girls alone, not again, not after that she had almost lost them forever.

“Bonnie… I hate asking you this but…”

“But you want me to stay with the girls while you try to find out something more about this situation. What if you find the woman and she attacks you ?”

“Bonnie… I only want to know where she is. I don’t like the idea of her being out there. I will be careful.”

“I don’t like the idea Caroline”

“Neither do I. But what if she comes back here ? I need you to stay here and protect my daughters. You’re one of the best witches I know and I don’t hesitate to give my life in your hands. And you know where I’m going so if something happen you you will know how to help me”

“We can call Rick and Elena. They can go there together. They’re more than capable pf defending themselves by vampires. You have to stay here with the kids. The need you. Call them and I will go with them. You must stay here”

“I hate when you’re right”

Then Caroline called them.  
She hated staying there without doing nothing to help. But Bonnie was right too.  
She was a mother now, she had responsibilities over her daughters and they had to have the priority.  
‘But I swear… That woman’s going to pay for this.’.

…

Stefan had kissed Klaus several times before, but he still remained surprised of how soft the hybrid’s lips were. Klaus was kissing him with kindness, passion, like Stefan had always wanted to be kissed.  
Klaus was also a perfect kisser nor that Stefan expected less. Klaus was a wonderful man and he probably had a lot of relationships in the past. It wasn’t exactly a bad thing, at least one of them knew what they were doing. Stefan hadn’t so much experience and at the first he simply mimicked what Klaus did and apparently the blond liked being in charge of the kiss.  
His body was pressed against his body, one Klaus’ arm surrounded Stefan by his waist.  
Stefan’s neck hadn’t completely healed by Klaus’ bite, but Stefan didn’t care.  
He knew Klaus wasn’t going to hurt him, he knew that Klaus didn’t bite him with the intention of killing him.  
Klaus wasn’t Cade, he wasn’t Damon, he wasn’t Katherine and he was beautiful, his blond angel.  
Klaus realized that he truly loved kissing Stefan. He had become obsessed with those soft lips, so perfect to match with his own, so sensual to make Klaus fall in love with the toddler only for this. He interrupted the kiss for a moment, but not the hug and he lost himself at the view of Stefan.  
Red lips, black lashes that every girl would envied, messy funny hair, amazing green forest eyes… If Klaus’ destiny was falling in love with a guy, the blond was happy that that guy was Stefan.

“Am I going to dream you tonight ?” he asked caressing Stefan’s cheek.

Stefan smiled. He had spent the last forty-five minutes kissing Klaus like a teenager at his first crush (and it wouldn’t have been exactly wrong) and he felt like he could kiss Klaus for even more time. But it wasn’t the right moment. Their daughters were in the bedroom and Stefan didn’t want Eri to jump in two men kissing.

“I don’t think so. Tomorrow will be an important and I usually spend most of the precedent night praying. And there’s the hunt”

“Then it’s a good thing if we have met now, but I’m going to miss you tonight anyway”

“Me too. Look, I know that I have trust issue and I know that probably a lot of people had told you something like this before but I want you to know that you’re special, Klaus. I don’t know what I felt for you but whatever it is, it’s real and it’s deep and I’m glad to feel this for you. I won’t lie, I’ve heard terrible things about you but I don’t care about anyone of them, because you’re the only person who has never hurt me.”

“And… You’re the first person who makes me spent more time in front of a mirror to be sure that I look at my best. The first person who accepts to be blind in front of my worst part to enjoy my best part. The first person who knows everything about me and still has the courage to kiss me. I… I just want you to know that you’re beautiful, utterly beautiful and… it’s not a love declaration” Stefan concluded with a little smirk.

“You could have avoided the last part. But… Believe it or not, I haven’t been told something like that by so much people as you think. And… believe it or not… you’r utterly beautiful too. You’re one of the strongest creature of the world, stronger than me, but you… You… make me feel like a King. You’re look so devoted and I know what you meant when you said that Marcel was important to me”

Stefan smiled again shyly. Then he kissed Klaus again. God only knew how much he loved kissing the other, and he only knew if he had another choice to do it in the future. 


	23. Monsters in Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Klaus is Stefan's soul to save. They hated each other at the begin, then they became friends, now they are linked forever. They belong each other and nothing could separate them anymore. Nevertheless they need to leave their past behind their backs if they wanted to have a future together.   
> The fight against Marcel is near and this maybe is their last possibility to fight and accept their past together.

CHAPTER 23

  
_Klaus hoped he could dream that night. He had never been so close to die as now, and he truly needed to spend sometime with someone who had openly admitted to care about him._   
_Hope had left New Orleans and he knew that his siblings considered him responsible for what was going to happen tomorrow. Stefan instead… he didn’t held any grudge against him._   
_And Stefan had told him he was utterly beautiful so…_   
_He was glad that Stefan had found sometime to dream for him._   
_Klaus knew where he was, he recognized the moment. Long hair, mouth and chin dirty of blond, half naked, surrounded by parts of his victims’ body. It was the day when he turned into a wolf for the first time. When he almost lost everything he had, when he lost himself for the first time, when he understood he was different from anyone, when he used to consider a curse what now he saw like a gift. When he understood that his life was based on a lie, that he was nothing more than the outcome of an affair. The deepest lie his mother ever told._   
_That was the moment when human Klaus died with his identity, his naivety and his dreams._   
_When he saw his true self for what he actually was. A monster, a beautiful little monster with a putrified heart who had finally realized how alone he truly was._   
_Klaus knew, deep down, inside of what remained of his heart, that no one would ever understand him, what it felt like being different from anyone, not belong to any ‘group’. His skins was too hot and sun didn’t burn it, so he wasn’t a vampire, but he craved for blood and he possessed superhuman abilities, so he wasn’t a werewolf either._   
_His siblings tried to help him but Klaus knew, he knew that they partially blamed him because of their conditions for the loss of both of the parents, he knew that they couldn’t completely understand his loneliness, his wish to have someone like him. The looked at him… and they didn’t know what they were seeing._   
_Their step-brother ? A monster ? An abomination ? A vampire ? A werewolf ?_

_“Well, too late to dwell into the past, even if now I’m dreaming it” he said._

_He didn’t want Stefan to see him like this. He looked like more mare version of Tarzan. So he was glad when he noticed that there was something he could wear on the ground. It recognized it as one of his old clothes from his human life and he wasn’t surprised to notice his lack of sadness of the lost life._   
_Klaus had lived too much for feeling nostalgia of his old human life. He had accepted that he couldn’t have it back and he didn’t want to have it back. Klaus didn’t think he would have fit in it anymore. He walked for several minutes when he found himself in front of a cave._   
_Klaus recognized that place immediately. Rebekah used to go there a lot when she was human, she inscribed the name of her siblings on the wall and when Klaus went to Mystic Fall he found out that later other inhabitants had added other stories on the wall. No, one particularly story, the story of the Original’s family._   
_It was because of that signs that Elena & Co found out that Klaus had killed his mother._

_“Well… I can’t say she didn’t deserve it…” he commented weakly._

_“Is this the story of your family ?” asked another voice behind him._

_Klaus smiled. He was waiting for him. He turned around and he saw Stefan who was looking at the signs on the wall._   
_Klaus looked at him with a curious look. Stefan was dressed up like a gentleman of 19th century, and Klaus almost blushed thinking about the way he looked instead._   
_Klaus had to admit, Stefan looked really beautiful that way and he couldn’t believe that no one had courted him when he was human. Why didn’t he come to Mystic Falls in that period ?_

_“You look ravishing” Klaus said with a malicious smile._

_He looked like a poor homeless man and the blood around his mouth surely didn’t make him look more appealing but he still had his confidence and the way Stefan’s was looking at him was surely helpful._   
_Stefan loved Klaus’ hair and now that they were long Stefan was even more tempted to touch them and twist them between his fingers._   
_Damn Vikings again… They had no right to be so attractive._   
_Stefan had perfectly noticed the blood around Klaus’ mouth but he didn’t care about it. The blood didn’t make the blond less attractive. No… it making the blond more tempting at the Stefan’s eyes._   
_Stefan came closer to Klaus and gently grabbed the blond’s face and started to kiss the skin of the chin. God, blood was so delicious, even in dreams, or maybe it was because he was sucking it directly from Klaus’ skin that made the liquid so erotic, so delicious. So intoxicating._   
_Maybe he shouldn’t lick blood that way, Cade had forbidden him to drink human blood, maybe he was braking one of the Devil’s rule, but it was just a dream and Stefan’s didn’t give a damn about the consequences._   
_In this dream he remained a vampire or he wouldn’t have found the blood delicious as he had, so he moved toward the blond’s neck, removing some haircut and then he bitted the blond’s._   
_Klaus gasped when he felt the fangs entering inside his neck, and he felt pain but he didn’t push Stefan away and he could handle the pain. Actually he loved the sensation of Stefan’s teeth inside his neck, sucking his blood_   
_Klaus smiled thinking that his blood was the first that Stefan had sucked by a person after a long time._   
_Klaus’ blood was warm, bittersweet, the best he had ever drunk._

_“You’re blood is delicious… God… you’re my greatest temptation you know Nik ?”_

_“I like when you call me Nik, love. Where was I when you were human and so appealing ?”_

_“I asked the same thing myself. But who can tell me you wouldn’t have chose Damon over me as anybody else ? All women and men in the end falling in love with his mischievous smirk and his blue eyes.”_

_“Believe me Stefan, the first time I saw your brother I hadn’t killed him only because I needed to make a deal with his girlfriend. Under certain aspects, me and Damon are too much similar to stay together and I don’t think I would put it up with someone like me. Sometimes I don’t put it up with myself either” joked Klaus kissing Stefan forehead._

_It was true._   
_Klaus and Damon were in decent terms with each other now, but they weren’t friends either._   
_Damon was too similar to him or at least to the man he used to be and Klaus wandered if Stefan could love his former self._   
_He was a true mess. Well Stefan was a hot mess too, somehow they were perfect for each other._   
_Stefan looked Klaus in the eyes and he was almost sad not to feel his sins, because he would have been sure Klaus was telling him the truth._   
_Maybe it was childish, but thinking about Damon wasn’t helpful for his own self-esteem. History speaking, he always lost against Damon when it came to love._

_“Hey… look at me… look at me in the eyes” said Klaus grabbing Stefan’s face._

_Stefan obeyed and what he saw made him shivering._   
_Klaus was looking at him like he had always want to be looked at. Klaus was looking a him with a predatory look, with passion, desire, lust, but also with kindness as he was worry to scare Stefan._   
_Stefan found himself kissing the blond again, almost dependent from those lips red like blood and soft like velvet._   
_Stefan smiled thinking about their first met when they couldn’t stand the other’s presence, when because of the blond Marcel attempted to kill him with his puppets._   
_Stefan probably would have still disliked him if the blond wasn’t his soul to save._   
_He was gently kissing blond’s lower lip when he noticed that some blood was still running down the neck and it was making Stefan losing his mind. He licked the blood, kissing and sucking the skin and then something came inside his mind._

_“You know… you can bite me if you want”_

_“No… I’ve already done it, in the reality. Maybe it was the first and the last time and I want to remember it no this sort of illusion.”_

_“I understand”_

_“Well, for you is different. You can do something like this with a person only in your dreams.”_

_“Yeah… well it’s not so bad. I need someone who imposes some limits to me. The first time I became a Ripper, I totally lost control over myself and…”_

_“And ?”_

_“I didn’t recognize me anymore or… maybe I did for the first time. I don’t know, maybe it’s only a madness but I’ve always felt something inside me, a voice, who warned me to be a good boy, to be gentle, to be kind and sometimes I wander if it was a sign that I’ve always been a bad person”_

_“Wow, for someone who usually goes to Church you definitively have little faith in yourself”_

_“Klaus come on. When all of this happened, when I got this…” said Stefan rising the wrist with the silver bracelet “… Cade wasn’t interested in Damon. At all. But when he saw me, he had no doubt he wanted to posses my soul. He spilled the seed of evil inside me, or he made it grown, I don’t know but It was me who he wanted. Who he still wants. How can you explain this ?”_

_It was after all. Stefan had always have the obsessing need to protect his soul, to protect himself by the darkness inside his heart. After the first time he had become a Ripper he wandered over and over again if he already was a cruel man when he was human._   
_If all his kindness and gentle wasn’t a sort of a mask, a cover, a cocoon for the the birth of his true self, of his cruelty, of the monster he was born to be. Klaus, Damon, Katherine, Cade, Henry, himself… they were all monsters who used to be humans and his long career as Sinner Hunter taught him that it didn’t need being a supernatural creature thirty of blood to be a monster._   
_Some of his victims looked so human in their own monstrosity that sometimes Stefan forgot what he was killing, a man or a monster ?_

_“Stefan you can’t blame yourself for craving blood. You’re a vampire and this is in your nature.”_

_“I’m not just talking about blood. When I was a Ripper I could use blood as a justification. I’m a vampire… I crave for blood… and I thought that this was all. But now ? I can’t drink for my victims and yet I found killing them quite entertaining and appealing and I don’t hesitate to kill for other reasons even if I’m one step from Hell”_

_“Vampires are predators, Stefan, this is part of our nature too !”_

_“But hurting people is in human nature. You have to see of how sort of cruelty humans are capable of doing, Klaus. They kill each other, use each other, abuse each other, they eat each other, they lie to each other and they have no reason to. Humans don’t crave for blood and still…”_

_“And still ?”_

_Stefan noticed now that he was crying. God, he had to look pathetic in that moment. Crying in front of the man you want to conquer wasn’t a real thing to do. But Stefan couldn’t stop the tears from falling from his eyes down his cheeks and his chin._   
_He had been keeping that words inside his heart since he became a Sinner Hunter. He knew he could about it with Klaus, because he felt that, somehow, the blond could understand how utterly alone he had felt all those years. How much wrong, scared, alone he felt._   
_That was punishment for every single monster, the loneliness._

_“And still we are monsters like them, just a bit less human. So, who I am ? Who I used to be ? Who will I be ?”_

_“I can’t answer to this, Stefan. I don’t know why you’re so special for Cade, I don’t know if you’re cruel by yourself or not. But I do know something, love” said Klaus grabbing Stefan’s face. “I do know you’re a strong guy, who still struggles against himself, against his dark side. I saw the Ripper, I saw your Dark Side and I know you’re suffering because of it and nevertheless you’re still yourself.”_

_“My mother is a bad person, you know ? Cruel even…” said Stefan without knowing why he was saying something like that._

_“She is a Ripper… like me. Apparently madness is something that runs in our family and I’ve always been the one who was more similar to her. When I met her I should have to kill her and let the hellfire burn her down for her crimes, but I didn’t”_

_“Why didn’t you kill her ?” asked Klaus._

_Stefan smiled without any joy._   
_Why hadn’t he killed his mother ? Because when he saw her he saw himself too ?_   
_It had been like he was looking his spotlight in the mirror._   
_Her mother was nothing more than his mirror image, it was his opposite and still she was resemble everything he was too._   
_How could be devastating seeing yourself in the eyes of someone else ?_   
_In Stefan’s mind it would have been such an hypocrite gesture to kill his mother for her crimes. She was a Ripper like him. A magnificent and lethal creature, able to turn her victims into works of art like him._   
_But he hadn’t killed her for other reasons. He wanted to spite Cade because he didn’t want to be guilty of matricide. Her mother had cheated on her husband, and Stefan couldn’t blame her for it._   
_Her mother hadn’t hurt him and he had nothing against her._   
_Then he hadn’t killed her because he hoped she was somewhere else, killing and ripping people apart, being who she wanted to be for the first time after an existence of humiliation and obedience toward the men of her life._   
_When Stefan thought about his mother he imagined her like a butterfly, or a swan, or a bird finally free from each cage, free to fly. Her mother was a wonderful creature and when he saw her killing it found her extremely poetic._   
_It was insane, but he had envied her at some point._

_“Because she deserves to be free”_

_“You will be free as well”_

_Klaus turned toward the signs on the wall and he pointed a finger toward her mother’s name._

_“You know… this signs tell a terrible story. The story of a lonely child, who lost his humanity forever and also himself. It’s the story of a matricide, of this lovely young boy who kills his mother”_

_“And for a good reason. I know what your mother had done to you”_

_“How ?” asked Klaus stunned._

_“I didn’t like it, but I saw what your brothers had done to her and with her in the various occasions. I saw their sins and some of them had been committed with her help or for her will”_

_“I don’t like it. You can’t see my sins, but you can see the ones of my siblings and this way you know everything about my life. It’s unfair”._

_“How did it feel like ? Killing a part of you ?”_

_Klaus closed his eyes, remembering the scene. Remembering the pain, remembering the betrayal, remembering… one of the most painful memories of his life._   
_He hadn’t enjoyed killing his mother as the most liked thinking. It was more what people would call a spur of the moment since his anger completely took control over his rationality. Klaus didn’t want to kill his mother, he was angry, furious, and his mother had betrayed him first. Her mother had played with his mind, had abused of her role to lie to him, had used her magic on him not because she cared, but because she feared he could lose control and reveal to the world that she had been unfaithful to her husband._

_“She killed a part of me when she cursed me. She didn’t do it to protect me, but because she thought I was an abomination. In that moment I wandered if she had ever done something for me because she cared and not for fear. When I was ready to forgive her, when she came back to me and she said she wanted a new start for our family I believed her, I wanted to believe her.”_

_“Unfortunately what we want to see is never what is really is. We change the reality to conforme it with our wishes.”_

_“I didn’t wish it at the time. I was pursuing another goal when she came back. I put it behind to make her happy.”_

_“What wouldn’t we do to make our parents happy ah ?”_

_“She betrayed me again that time and then she tried to kill my daughter. And now… I don’t know what to think anymore. I don’t know what I feel for her”_

_“You love her Klaus. She’s your mother and it’s enough to forgive her everything”_

_“How could it be enough ?”_

_“Because when I saw my mother and I felt all of her sins and I found out what she was capable of doing, what for a moment she had wanted to do to me… I knew that there weren’t sins I couldn’t forgive her for.”_

_“Your mother didn’t hurt you. She…”_

_“She made me believe she was death. She made me cry for her, made me feel guilty for her. She made me believe she loved me. Instead she had abandoned me, she ran away with her lover forgetting about us. I can’t understand you completely but partially I do.”_

_Suddenly that cave looked too narrow for both of them. Klaus didn’t told Stefan to go away, he didn’t need to, Stefan felt the same way._   
_The toddler gently took the other’s hand and leaded him toward the exit._   
_It was a simple gesture, taking someone by his hand, specially if that someone was your boyfriend or something similar, but both Klaus and Stefan felt strange because of it._   
_It was something so intimate yet so innocence that it didn’t fit completely into their lives, and nevertheless no one of them interrupted that contact._

_“Where do you want to go ?” asked Stefan._

_“Nowhere we could remember about the past. I want to go somewhere new, where I couldn’t remember anything”_

_Stefan nodded. Another thing that he and Klaus had in common was the lack of joy in remembering the past._   
_The Hunter didn’t believe he could be able to manipulate the dream. The last time he had been in control because they were inside his… mental palace if he could define the Hell inside his head that way. Now the dream had chose for them, so maybe they were there because they needed to remember something or because they needed to talk about their past, the scars that had made them who they were._   
_But when they arrived at the end of the cave, they found a wall that wasn’t there before, with a red door._   
_Stefan and Klaus shared a good then Stefan opened the door with the free hand and he saw that there was a sort of garden over it._

_“You know… I read somewhere that gardens usually resemble what it could have been or what it would be in the future. They represent the hopes and fantasies of man.” said Klaus “That is why I don’t like paint them too much”_

_Stefan was barely listening him, because he had recognized that place. He had remembered the red roses and flower bed and and the two marble statues at the entrance of the labyrinth. He didn’t want to go there, he didn’t want remember anything, he wanted to wake up or at least going somewhere else. Almost instinctively he slammed the door and gave it his shoulders._   
_Klaus looked at him with curiosity. He opened his mouth to ask something but then he noticed that Stefan was shivering so he chose not to. Klaus took Stefan’s hand again, then he hugged him, trying to make him to understand that he was here for him and that he didn’t have to be afraid of nothing._

_“We can stay here if you want” said Klaus._

_“No… I’m fine… now. I need to do this. Just… stay with me okay ?”_

_Klaus nodded, them Stefan opened the door again and he saw the same garden._   
_He took a breath then he leaded Klaus through the gardens, trying to ignore the perfume of roses, not looking the two statues._   
_He was surprised by himself for not have tried to run away from that damn place yet._   
_He swore to himself that that garden would be one of the place where he would never come back again and there he was, in his dream, with his soul to save._

_“The first and the last time I came here I was with my brother. Here I met my damnation. Here my life and Cade’s existence became forever intertwined. Here I sold my soul to the Devil and I became his slave”_

_“Is the reason why didn’t you want to come here ? Because here is where everything began ? Quite original.”_

_“Original ?”_

_“When I think about this Cade, I imagine him surrounded by fire, or I don’t know… I thought you had met him somewhere darker, hot, something like that”_

_“That is Hell. I’ve been there and yes Cade loves hot places, full of darkness, where you can hear people screaming, crying, praying for their salvation and sometimes the presence of the sinners around you is so insufferable that you forget who is the prisoner there and if Hell is a punishment for you or them”_

_“Have you been in Hell ? Really ?” asked Klaus surprised._

_“I wish I haven’t. Believe me when I say that is a nasty place where you would never ended up”_

_They arrived at the center of the labyrinth and Stefan saw that there was a fountain at the center with a demonic statue surrounded by black liquid. Stefan recognized what that liquid was._

_“Don’t touch that liquid, for any reason in the world”_

_“Why ?”_

_“Because this liquid flows alone the only river that runs through Cade’s hell. If you drinks it you’ll die. If I drink it, my powers will increase.”_

_“Because you’re an Hunter and I’m not, I guess.” said Klaus sitting on a white bench Stefan didn’t notice early._

_He sat next to Klaus and he looked at the fountain. He hated it, he hated everything about that place. That garden represented, as Klaus has said, the life he could have lived, what or who he could have been… a brother, a good person with problems of self control and nevertheless a good gently boy, with a boyfriend who loved him and who Stefan loved as well._   
_That garden represented all his lost dreams, the broken promises, the future he could have had._   
_Maybe he should just stop to complain about what he had lost and maybe trying to focus on what he had got._   
_Maybe it was the reason why he was here._

_“Maybe I should be grateful to be a Sinner Hunter after all” he whispered without thinking about his words._

_“What ?”_

_“I mean, maybe it’s why I’m here, maybe it’s why we’re here. We had spent some quality of time complaining about our lost life and our past. I mean we have suffered and we have been alone for a long time, but now we are here together and we seem to understand each other pretty well.”_

_“Yes. I guess that if I have to fall for a guy this way that guy had to be you.”_

_“Do you think you’re ready to move on with your life ?” asked Stefan._

_“Tomorrow I will be able to answer to you. Whether I kill Marcel or not, whether I win the war or not, I will be able to answer.”_

_“Don’t kill Marcel.”_

_“Why not ?”_

_“Marcel is your son, Klaus. He thought to hate you as much as you thought that your hate could have been strong enough to kill your mother but it’s not true. Kill him and the darkness will burn your heart down to Hell and I could never save you. You wouldn’t want me to save you either”_

_“I appreciate your concern for my soul”_

_“I can about you Klaus. I was swallowed by the beast, he chewed my flesh and made me a deadly and mutilated body, as a virus he infected my goodness, rejected it and replaced it with cruel, sadness and shame. I don’t want this for you” said Stefan grabbing Klaus’ face._

_“I have already been swallowed by darkness, I was swallowed up and I swallowed in turn, I was taken off and I taken away. I’m the monster and I’m also my best meal”_

_“We monsters can create something extremely beautiful though”_

_“What ?”_

_“Our daughters,, our families, a melody from our hearts… a moment perfect like this…”_

_Then Stefan kissed Klaus. A simple touch, a silent promise, a weak prayer, a soft declaration of devotion and affection._   
_Stefan was promising to Klaus the devotion he had always denied to Cade._   
_Stefan was courting Klaus, loving his lips before loving his mouth. Stefan was giving to Klaus what he should have always keep for himself, his heart. Stefan was courting, pleading and asking for something he could have just taken. Stefan was loving what he should have hated._   
_Cade was the Devil, but Klaus was the creature that was dragging him into a sea of lust, desire and passion._   
_Klaus grabbed him by his hair and he kissed him with more strength. He grabbed his chin and made Stefan opening his mouth and without asking for permission, Klaus’ tongue entered in the toddler’s mouth. The blond felt he could give up on anything he had if he had another possibility to kiss that lovely mouth another day._   
_Because now he knew, kissing Stefan in a dream was nothing compare to reality, holding his body between hi arms was nothing compared to reality. Maybe falling in love with a cursed create could be the most dangerous thing he had ever done but he didn’t care._   
_He didn’t want to be alone anymore, and he if had to from the Hell to be with the one he loved he would do it, until the end._   
_It was better burning in Hell forever, than suffering alone in Paradise without the one he loved._


	24. And the Storm began...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The day of the final fight against Klaus, Former King of Vampire, and Marcel, the Beast of New Orleans, has finally arrived. Who will win this time ?  
> At the same time Stefan, Lexi and Eri are collaborating with one of the Mikaelson to find and defeat Tyallah, a dangerous Sinner Huntress who's determinate of turning New Orleans into her personal hunting territory. But she isn't the only one threat who's going to make her appearance.   
> Elena and Co. have finally found the house of the unknown woman who had kidnapped both Enzo and Damon and they are determinate to save their friends. They have no idea of the nightmare they're going to find.

**CHAPTER 24**

  
Stefan was feeling nervous and exited, knowing what it was coming. He had already wore his Hunter outfit, while he could feel the silver bracelet burning the skin around his wrist.   
He didn’t know why it burned but he decided to interpreted it as a sign of good luck from Cade. The good part of not knowing something was that you could pick the version you appreciated the most. After all, Cade was always glad to see his little monsters fight against each other, he said that it was an excellent method to understand who of his sons was better than who.  
Tyallah was a succubus, she had a superhuman strength but not speed, but as a succubus she could play with men’s heart, making them seeing what they desired and not what was true, she also had sharper teeth than him and she could manipulate his mind.  
Not so bad. Stefan could manipulate her mind too and if he was fast enough he could prevent her from hurt him or use her power on him.   
Not to be unprepared, Stefan went to Jun house after the hunt and he rummaged through her things, trying to find something useful to defeat a succubus.   
He had found a book of spells and he recognized the language because most of them were written with the Verbis Diablo and other in Japanese, very few in Chinese. There were three or four pages of protection spells against the succubus and he also found a silver dagger.  
The silver was the same of his own bracelet, it emanated danger, warning, temptation, violence and suddenly it started to burn when Stefan approached it at his bracelet. He wandered why Jun hadn’t used it against him when she had the occasion. Probably she was confident to kill him even without using it.  
Now he was in his living room with Lexi, Eri and Freya Mikaelson.   
Stefan knew that Klaus had explained the indispensable minimum to convince Freya to come here even if the Hunter could feel that Freya had already guessed something about him or she was going to anyway. She already had some suspects about him anyway.   
But both Klaus and Stefan knew that it was the smartest thing to do. Freya couldn’t be protected by her siblings, no one of them would have been strong enough against a Sinner Hunter, Stefan would. Stefan could protect her.  
Tyallah didn’t want to kill no one but her and her siblings were going to fight against Marcel.   
Of course Freya wasn’t happy about the situation, she would have preferred fight at her siblings’ side against their common foe.

“So… These spells can protect us from this Tyallah, did I get right ?” asked Freya looking at the book.

“Yes. Don’t worry about the language. Eri can translate them for you if you want” said Stefan.

“Yes, I would feel less worry if I know what they mean.” answered Freya.

Lexi, with her superhuman speed, took to Eri a pen with her notebook and said “Here”

Eri nodded then she started to translate the spells. Freya looked at the blond vampire and she found herself extraordinarily curious about her.   
Who was her ? Why she was there ? How did she know Stefan ?   
Maybe she was paranoid, a trait that she shared with Klaus, but she didn’t like dealing with people she didn’t know anything about. History speaking, it was always useful knowing as much as you could about both allegiance and enemies. The enemies because you had to know how to protect yourself, the alleys because you had to know how you would protect yourself if things went wrong.

“I’m not going to hurt you, if this is what are you worrying about.” said the girl who felt Freya’s gaze on her.

“How can I be sure that you’re not ganging up with Marcel on Klaus and that this girl who’s going to kill me is nothing more than a lie ?”

“Well, You can get out of here alone and when you meet a sexy human with tastes far from conventional you’ll know the truth” answered Lexi far from being scare of Freya.

“How do you know she’s appealing ?” asked Freya.

“Because succubus are appealing. They’re temptress and if even if their truly aspect may be ugly, in your eyes they will always look like Goddess” answered Stefan “And this succubus is also a Sinner Hunter so she even more dangerous”

Freya rolled her eyes. It was obvious she didn’t completely believe them.

“So is this your twisted way for admitting to be a Sinner Hunter ?” asked Freya scrutinizing Stefan.

Stefan smiled. Of course she would take advantage of the situation and of the current absence of Klaus to ask him more question about his ‘occupation’. Well, there couldn’t be collaboration without a little trust and Stefan truly needed Freya to be collaborative with them.  
Surprises or unexpected events wouldn’t be convenient in a do or die situation.

“If I admit to be an Hunter, would you be more collaborative with me and my family ? You need to understand that I’m trying to protect you”

“How can I trust ? Only yesterday you lied to us. Did you lie about Henrik too ?” asked Freya standing up to look him in the eyes.

“You can trust that I’m a Sinner Hunter and that my principal duty is killing people like you. People who had hurt other people, people who kills, who hurts, who are so selfish and cruel to get what they want at the expense of someone else. You’re not even an Original vampire, you have no bloodline neither children. If I kill you, you won’t leave any legacy and this is the only reason why your siblings had survived all those years.”

“Their bloodline ?” asked Freya.

“Yes”

Freya remained silence, while she was elaborating the new informations to decide what to do later. At the same time Lexi went to kitchen to take a glass of blood in order to escape from that awkward situation.   
Stefan could hear Freya’s thoughts and he didn’t appreciate them. She was thinking over the fact that Klaus had lost his bloodline five years ago and that suddenly Marcel came up with the idea of punishing Klaus by making him turn other people into vampires.   
Freya had never believed in coincidences and surely she wouldn’t start now. What if Stefan had something to do with what had happened ? What if it was Stefan who had manipulated all the events until that moment ? What else was he keeping from them ?   
Then she suddenly remembered what Rebekah had said.

“How could be possible being an old friend of Klaus and don’t remember it ?” asked Freya.

“He doesn’t remember about me either. My opinion is that someone had stolen our memories from us”

“Why ?”

“I don’t know”

“I’ve finished of translating most of the spells. There. Pick one and do it” said Eri passing the notebook to Freya.

Freya took the book and started to read the spells, not before to have thrown a look to Stefan that meant ‘We are not done’.  
Stefan smiled then he went to kitchen where Lexi was drinking her glass of blood.

“You know she wasn’t going to trust us very soon, right ?” asked Lexi drinking the read liquid.

“Not yet. Until she doesn’t understand how much delicate this situation is she will have her doubts.”

“She will never stop to have doubts about you unless you say to her all the truth. She will be collaborative because her sense will tell her to, but after that you better think about some excuses to tell”

Stefan knew Lexi was right but he really didn’t want to think about it at them moment. He didn’t know if Klaus wanted her siblings to know the truth about him yet and he wasn’t going to call him to know what he had to tell to Freya.

“How are you Lexi ?” he asked to his friend.

Stefan and Lexi hadn’t had much time to speak during the last days, but he knew that his best friend was frantic about various things. Specially him. Lexi was in constant fear that he could lost his innocence or himself since she had seen him killing Jun. They both knew he shouldn’t have, and Stefan could only imagine how Lexi was suffering for this.  
She was a strong and brave woman but she despised violence and cruelty with all her heart, that was why she wanted him to stay good, to be the gentle boy he truly was.  
Stefan knew that if she was still there with him it was only because she loved him but Stefan didn’t want her to suffer anymore.

“Did you… did you talk to Henry ?” asked Stefan.

“No, I think it’s a good idea. I don’t like this situation, I don’t like dealing with violence and if it’s not too late for you, something says to me that Henry wouldn’t be good for me.”

“I think you’re right. I care for Henry, he’s important for he somehow but I don’t think he can give to you what you really want.”

“And I also noticed that he still feels something for another woman. We had an interesting chat in our minds and I asked him something about a certain Sybil. Something suggested me that he still feels something for her”

“Well… Sybil had been important for Henry. She taught him how to survive in this job, in this life. She… has been everything he had for a long time.”

“Were they lover ?” asked Lexi

“Before Sybil broke his heart by having sex with another man. Henry got his revenge by becoming Cade second lover and then the Devil put ‘mother’ and ‘son’ against each other. Then… Sybil apologized to Henry when she regained her freedom but Henry was too proud to come back to her and he also knew it was too dangerous doing it. Sybil is…”

“The Devil’s wife. I know. I can see him and Sybil being the perfect murderer couple. I feel so sad for him”

“Why sad ?”

“Because I know he had sex with Sybil, Cade and he wouldn’t hesitate to have sec wth other people to get what he wants and I know he does because he considers his body as nothing more than a weapon, a way to manipulate the other.”

“You’re making him look like a whore”

“He’s not a whore. He’s a soldier, a war machine even. His mother had sold him and Cade had treated him like nothing more than a murderer. He has no idea of how worthy he is, how important his persona could be. He treats himself as Cade does, as an empty shell to fill with darkness and loneliness. I don’t want this for you. I want you to remember how much important you really are. How important you are for me”

Stefan kissed her forehead and then he hugged. He wouldn’t know what to do without her in his life. She was his strength, her lead, another fundamental part of his family, the good part of him. She was his best friend and the second woman he loved the most in his life but he also knew that she couldn’t stay there with him, she wouldn’t have been safe, not now, not near him.

“Lexi… I have to ask you a favor”

...

‘Who’s going to burn in Hell ?’ Klaus thought.  
Klaus looked at Marcel, who was at the center of his army, with the same insane and maniacal expression he had the same night he declared war to the Mikaelsons.  
Klaus noticed that there was the same tick on his lips, that his posture was the same of a drunken man, slightly curved forward, that his right leg was trembling and also both of his hands.  
That man wasn’t the Marcel Klaus knew, that was was insane, irrational and incautious. And he was losing the trust of his men toward him.   
Klaus could see that Marcel’s vampires wanted to be anywhere but there.   
Klaus could see from the facial expressions on his siblings’ face that they didn’t want to be there too, but they have or Marcel would kill them.

“Glad to see you here, Klaus. For a moment I feared you would have tried to run away”

“As I said… I’m not a coward. Indeed… I’m here to propose you a deal”

“Time for deals is over. You should have thought about the consequences of your actions a long time ago”

“I think you should shut up and listen to me”

Klaus didn’t believe he could be capable of speaking with that firm voice while he was choosing the fate. He hadn’t spoken with Hayley and his siblings about the decision he took when the dream finished.   
Maybe it was dangerous, maybe he was going to die, but they all were there for the wrong decisions he had made and only he had to die for it.   
He didn’t know if he was going to survive anyway. Now he was certain that Marcel had a weapon that could kill the Originals and he was going to use it at the first occasion.   
Klaus had a sort of plan to take it from the Beast but he needed be close to Marcel to accomplish it.

“Look at your friends… they all are going to die because of our werewolf venom and you know that there won’t be any cure for them.”

“Obviously you would not hesitate to use such mean ways to win”

“No, you know me to well to know that I hate losing. So, that’s my deal. I’m going to fight you personally until I die or you do, I haven’t completely lost my hopes yet. If I win your vampires will have to abandoned New Orleans.”

“What if I win ?” asked Marcel coming closer to Klaus.

“We all know what you’re going to do in that case. There’s no need to repeat it again”

Marcel smiled. He had been dreaming of Klaus’ death for almost six years and he had never been so close from obtaining it.   
Klaus’ death would mean the end of all his troubles, the end of his unhappiness, the end of an age of suffering and tyranny. It was what he had always wanted for himself, for his friends, for the daughter had loved with all his heart and that had been taken away from him.   
Klaus was aware of the stunning and frantic looks of Hayley and his family on him but he chose to ignore them. He knew what he was doing, he knew he was taking a big risk and that the eventuality of not seeing his daughter anymore had never been so high but he had to try. He had to prove to himself he could be the hero of the story for once, he wanted to think about Hope, about how much proud she would be when he would come back to her.   
He was going to fight until the end to come back to Hope and to protect the people he loved. He was going to show to himself that there still was light inside his heart, that he was capable of doing the right thing, that he was good enough to save the guy he loved from Hell forever.

“Have it your way, Klaus. You’re only delaying the inevitable” said Marcel.

“Make your moves, I can handle all of them”

...

’This is plan is stupid’ Lexi thought while she was walking through the French Quarter.   
She was wearing Freya Mikaelson’s clothes, plus a pair of sunglasses, while Freya, Stefan and Eri were walking somewhere near here.  
Tyallah didn’t know how Freya looked like but it didn’t mean she couldn’t feel her sins.   
So the plan that Stefan had elaborated consisted in using Lexi as bait since she was blond, a vampire and physically strong enough to fight against Tyallah if the Huntress tried to attack her.  
Stefan, Freya and Eri would remain near her and they would defend her from Tyallah as soon as the situation required it.  
Any Hunter could feel the presence of another Hunter, it was like each one of them took a piece of Hell with himself and the others could feel it as another part of themselves.  
Stefan could feel Tyallah’s presence there but he had never seen her face so he couldn’t recognize her so he should Sheva relied only on his powers.

“Do you think she’s competent enough to deal with this kind of situations ?”

“She’s strong enough not to drink human blood, to deal with me and my problems and to deal with my brother.”

“If you say so. I still don’t think I should be here with you”

“I know you would have preferred to stay with your family today but I don’t think is wise leading a Sinner Huntress to Marcel, your siblings and Klaus in the first place.”

“What’s the difference between you and her ?”

“I have no intention of hurting your family. Tyallah, on the other hand, will no have hesitations to eat you alive and then she will do the same with your family”

‘And Lexi too if I’m not careful’ Stefan thought.   
Tyallah would try to seduce Lexi, to caught her attention somehow and to lead here somewhere she could kill her easily.  
The problem was that Stefan had no idea of who Tyallah would take the semblance, of Lee ? Lexi’s lover ? Of someone who Freya had loved ?   
Stefan had seen through Freya’s sins that she had accidentally killed her unborn child when she attempted suicide.   
Killing her son wasn’t her fault but suicide was a sin anyway and he knew that she had done it after the death of her boyfriend-husband.   
Stefan had seen his face and he had met Lee too so he knew what kind of face he was supposed to look for.   
Suddenly he felt, strong, untamed, dangerous, hurtful like only Hell could be, the presence of someone like him, another Hunter.  
Tyallah was there.  
‘Yes honey, I’m here. I must say, it’s really rude from you trying to hide my pray from me. I don’t know your face but I feel you near me.’  
Stefan tried to memorize her voice while his eyes were still following Lexi who was walking ahead.   
He was tempted to step up and approach her, but he was afraid that Tyallah could understand that he was watching her.  
Tyallah was a smart woman, surely she had done some appropriate researches about her target but he hoped that they could deceive her a little.

“Your hands are trembling otōsan. Tyallah’s here, isn’t her ?” asked Eri who was walking at his side.

“Precisely. She knew we’re helping Freya but she hasn’t located us… yet. It’s only a matter of time”

“Should I start to worry ?” asked Freya.

“You should have worried a long time ago” said Stefan grabbing her by her arm “We have to pretende we’re a… an happy family and… that we’re enjoying a good time together.”

“What ?” asked Freya stunned.

“It’s the more logical thing to do. Tyallah’s looking for a single witch, with no boyfriends, no husbands, no siblings ready to protect her because I’m sure, she knows that they’re fighting now so she wouldn’t care about families.”

“She can recognize me by my sins. You said that”

“Not if you are close enough to Lexi”

Freya hoped that Stefan knew what he was doing. She grabbed him by his arm, laid her head on his shoulder and she forced a smile.  
That was what she had always wanted, a family on her own, with Mathias and their son, together. The thought that she could have had a moment like that was making her sad.  
She was happy with her siblings but she couldn’t forget Mathias and their son, she couldn’t move on from them, she couldn’t regret not to have protect them until the end. That was why she was determinate to survive to Tyallah, because she had a family to protect and she wouldn’t be able to do it if she died.  
She didn’t trust Stefan, not completely, but at the moment he was the best chance she had to survive.  
‘I’m here… you won’t hide from me forever. I’m going to find you.’  
Stefan smirked. He hoped she would still talk so it could be easier for him to know where she was.   
Of course he wasn’t going to answer her back.   
‘You won’t be able to ignore me forever. You’re smart but not smart enough’.  
Stefan rolled his eyes. He was smart enough to deceive that woman, he was sure of it. She was provoking him, what a bitch.   
Eri, at his side, was holding his hand and somehow it helped to keep him in control, not to do any harsh move he could regret later.   
Suddenly he saw someone coming closer to Lexi… someone with short black hair, dressed in elegant fashion, with a confident attitude.  
Stefan wanted to cry and laugh at the same time. He knew who was that guy, or he knew who Tyallah chose to look like.   
Of course Freya didn’t recognize, she had never seen Henry in her life, Stefan instead knew him too better and Lexi too.  
Stefan wanted to scream at Lexi to be careful, that he wasn’t Henry but he couldn’t, not with Freya at his side. He could only hope that Lexi would be smart enough to understand the wile.   
The guy approached Lexi, touching her arm to caught her attention and he saw the girl smiling happy.  
Stefan remembered the words Lexi had said about Henry earlier and he knew that she had understand that something was wrong.  
He used his super senses to hear the conversation between the two guy.

“Hello honey ! Where are you going so hurry ?”

“Actually I have no idea. I just need to do something, to walk, think, be alone. But I wouldn’t mind your company”

“Talking with strangers could be dangerous, you know ?”

“I’ve the sensation you won’t be a stranger for longer. What’s your name ?”

“Henrik. Henrik Mikaelson”

Stefan smiled victorious.   
Lexi had been fantastic by pretending not to know Henry. Officially Freya Mikaelson had no idea of who his brother was and how he looked like and if Lexi made the mistake to recognize him, Tyallah would have understood that it was a trap.  
Now Stefan knew for sure that that guy wasn’t Henry.  
His ‘brother - colleague had stopped to introduced himself as Henrik, let alone using his siblings’ surname Mikaelson.   
Henry had always said not to belong to Mikaelson family anymore and also not to want to come back to them or he would have come back in New Orleans a long time ago.

“I don’t think that it’s the appropriate moment to flirt with someone, what do you think ?” whispered Freya.

“I’m afraid I disagree. I’m listening their conversation and the guy has introduced himself with a false name. And she knows it too”

“I hope both of you know what to do”

Stefan nodded then he started to listen the conversation between Lexi and ’Henry’ again. He hoped that Tyallah wouldn’t be so stupid to kill Lexi in front of everyone and he hoped not to have done a terrible mistake when he asked Lexi to do this.  
Fortunately, Tyallah didn’t seem willing to provoke a scandal in front of al the French Quarter. For now she was just smiling with gentleness and manners, touching Lexi’s arm from time to time, without being intrusive.

Lexi took the guy’s hand and said “You know… I wouldn’t mind some company today. I feel so alone in this moment”

Fake Henry smiled and said “I wouldn’t waste the opportunity to spend sometime with a wonderful creature like you. Where do you want to go ?”

“Somewhere we could be alone. Just you and me”

“It’s done” whispered Stefan to Freya.

Tyallah surrounded Lexi’s neck with an arm and it was clear that they were going somewhere together and that Tyallah had fallen into their trap.  
First part of the plan… done, now the second part could begin.

…

‘It has been time since the last time that a fist hurts me so much’ Klaus thought after that Marcel had punched him right in the face, so hard to brake his lower lip that started to bleed.  
Klaus would have been a liar if he said that he was the one with the upper hand.   
Marcel had become stronger since the last time they fought, probably due to some kind of spell put on him by his new unknown friend.   
The Beast was faster and stronger and Klaus was proud of any time he had managed to hit him and that he was still in one piece.   
His lower lip was broken, he had several wounds on his arms and one on his right leg but Marcel hadn’t bitted him yet even if he tried.

“Why don’t you just give up ? You’re not going to survive longer” said Marcel grabbing his wrist to defend himself by a punch from the blond.

“I can do this all day”

Klaus took advantage of that moment of distraction of Marcel to get his wrist free and hit him in the stomach with a kick and another on the face when Marcel leaned slightly forward for the pain on the stomach.  
It was in that moment, when Marcel was still leaning forward that Klaus noticed something strange at the height go the neck. Something tiny and black and that moved slightly under the skin. It was disgusting.  
‘What the hell is that ?’ Klaus thought with a grimace.   
Unfortunately it was him this time to be distracted and Marcel took advantage of it by hitting him in the stomach and then to make him fallen on the ground.  
Hayley was going to attack Marcel to help Klaus but Elijah stopped her. If she attacked Marcel, his vampires would attack them too and then whatever stupid plan Klaus had in mind would fail. Because Elijah was sure that Klaus had a plan, he refused to believe that his brother had suddenly lost his mind at the point to attempt a suicide mission.   
Kol and Rebekah didn’t dare look away from Marcel and his vampires behind him. Specially Rebekah.   
She knew that Marcel had a weapon powerful enough to kill her brother once and for all but she also knew, or at least hoped, that somewhere inside his heart, he still felt something for her, something that could stop him from hurting her and her family.   
Maybe it was an hazard but Marcel would have no pity for anyone else but he and if she saw him taking anything that looked like a weapon she would be the first to intervene.  
Klaus could feel his ribs break for the punch but still it wasn’t enough to make him run away, to ask for mercy, to surrender to Marcel.

“How could you reduce yourself this way ?” asked Klaus with disgust in his voice.

“Did I reduce myself this way ? Last time I checked you let your family kill Davina by sending her in the Ancestral Dimension where the spirits of the death witches had ripper her soul apart”

“She been punished for the things she had done for you too. Don’t forget you was the first to used her for you own business”

“You have used you family, you’re still using your family. Every bad things that I’ve done I learnt it from you !”

“Maybe you should have learn not to repeat my mistake instead”

Marcel tried to punch him but Klaus managed to avoid it. Suddenly his plan had taken an unexpected direction. Klaus was sure that ,whatever trash was the thing behind Marcel’s neck, it surely influenced his judgment and his will. If Klaus managed to take it off before Marcel attacked him with his weapon, his possibility to survive would rise.   
Of course it wouldn’t be easy but he had to. Marcel tried to hit him again with the elbow but Klaus grabbed him with all his strength and broke him. Then he surrounded Marcel’s neck with an arm and he ignored the pain at one side due to the elbow of the Beast, an attempt to get free by his grasp.  
Klaus knew that in the moment he would left his held on the arm, Marcel would hit him again, so using all his speed, he let the arm free and scratched the skin of the neck.  
He felt something clammy under his fingers and despite the disgust he was feeling, he grabbed that black thing and took if off Marcel’s neck.  
The Beast screamed.  
A cream that humans had nothing that looked more like the bark of a ferocious animal.

“Just one moment… Here, I got it”

The neck skin began to bleed and Marcel fell on his knees but at least he was free of that damn thing.  
Klaus looked at the black thing he had in his hand. It looked like an insect, with tentacles and it was of the since of a pinhead.

“What the hell is that ?” asked Klaus showing the

Marcel vampires shared different looks, someone was worried, others were curious to look the weird little thing, other were just annoyed.  
Even the other Mikaelsons didn’t know what to do at them moment.

Marcel looked at it with a confused expression “No idea. I didn’t even know it was in my body. It would explains a lot of thing though”

“Yeah, for example, it could explain why you acted in that strange way”

“Whatever it is, someone had put that thing inside me and I’m going to kill him not matter what”

Elijah and Kol came closer to Klaus and looked at the insect.

“What the hell is that ?” asked Kol repeating the same question of Klaus.

“It’s a Malach”

Everyone jumped at the sound of the voice. Both Klaus and Marcel recognized that cold voice, they didn’t even need to turn around to see that Alistair Duquesne was behind them, with his army, with a smirk on his face that promised nothing but troubles.   
…

Elena, Bonnie, Caroline, Alaric and Matt had just arrived near the waterfall. They didn’t know what they were going to find but the last time they had been new the waterfall Bonnie had felt the pretense of something around them. Something really powerful and dangerous.

“Are you ready ?” asked Bonnie to others.

They nodded.   
Time of wait was over, they all wanted to know more about the entire situation. Elena wanted tot know if Damon was fine and she had a lot of questions to do to him. She wanted to know if he had a younger brother, if he was really dangerous as Kol told her and she wanted to know why Damon didn’t trust her enough to tell her the truth earlier.   
Alaric and Caroline wanted to look in the face the person who had so cowardly kidnapped their daughters and they wanted explanations too. Bonnie was determinate to have the boy she loved back and she wanted revenge against the woman who had taken him away from her and who was using him as nothing more than a tool, or a weapon or a marionette.   
Bonnie didn’t know that woman and still she already hated her. Bonnie didn’t care for her reasons and she wasn’t there for listening useless explanations or empty threats. The Bennet witch was there only for Enzo, only for having him back.   
Matt was there because even if he didn’t like vampires’ presence in Mystic Falls he hated the presence of another dangerous supernatural creature even more and he was determinate to keep the town safe.

“Phasmatos Oculas”

Bonnie had to repeat the spell several times before a little white house appeared in front of their eyes.  
It couldn’t even been definite ‘house’ that sort of… lumber-room size building in front of them but probably they would find something more inside it. There was a grey door without knob, handle or lock.

“Probably it has been sealed with a spell” proposed Caroline exiting the door.

“Maybe you’re right. Let me make an attempt. Phasmatos Siprum, Emnis Abortum, Fasila Quisa Exilum San.”

The grey door opened and the group entered inside. The room was empty with the only exception of a stairway ramp which you couldn’t see the where it was going.

“Her house has been entirely built inside the waterfall. This is why Josie and Lizzi said to have heard the water all around them” said Caroline.

“It’s a madness” commented Matt who wasn’t entirely sure to want to go down there.

No one of them was happy about the idea of going down but they had to. If they wanted to save their friends and defeat the new enemy they had to.  
It could have been a trap, it could have been dangerous, but they had to.  
For the love, for the truth, for their friends, a future worthy of fighting for.

“I’m going…” said Bonnie “I’m going and I will not come back without Enzo”

“Me too. Let’s go, we’ve already wasted too much time. No further hesitations” said Elena.

Then they all procede toward the abyss of Hell.


	25. And the Beast bitten

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stefan is determinate to protect Freya, the older sister of Klaus, from a dangerous creature, Tyallah. She's a succubus and can manipulate his mind. Would be Stefan strong enough to protect Freya without being devoured himself by the lethal bite of the succubus ?  
> In Mystic Fall, another cannibal woman is ready to start her mischievous plane. She, Sybil, the Queen of Hell, the Wife of Devil, determinate as never to leave her mark on the heroes of Mystic Fall and to use them for her purposes.  
> Because more grievous of being bitten by snake is to bite the fruit yourself and being trapped in Hell.

CHAPTER 25

  
Everyone, at least once in their life, desired to be pat of something, desired their metamorphosis, their becoming in something different, not better or worse, just different.  
Sybil died and reborn each time that her body dipped in the water, when her skin ceased to exist and she became part of molecules.  
Even when she was nothing more than a little human girl, she knew that she belonged to water, that nothing could ever give her a more gentler caress than that diaphanous liquid. But then the Devil gave her another becoming, he made her the his Queen, he taught her the power of Fire and then two elements that usually destroyed each other became one and only.   
Sybil looked at the ceiling and she reached an hand toward it like a preacher toward God, and she looked at the silver ring around her finger.  
Around her, nothing but the water, inside her, nothing but the fire…  
She knew they were coming, she knew what she would have to do.   
The fire inside her burned in ever fiber of her being, ready to attack and burn everything; the water was apparently calm, but it was preparing and indomitable storm that would drown everything at her command.  
She was Sybil, the Wife of Devil, the Queen of Hell, Fire and Water… The angle of the lost souls… And the nightmares of her enemies.  
“Tremble you all, because you’re not going to make it out alive… I promise’.

…

Lexi was trying with all herself not to thing about anything. She knew she was taking a big risk, that if she did even the littlest mistake she would find her soul burning in Hell.   
She was forcing herself not to show any sign of displeasure, or fear, or disgust for the touch of that person, whoever he or she was.  
Lexi knew that he wasn’t Henry, that he should be scared and she was but Stefan and Eri were behind her and Freya had used a protection spell on her, so if Tyallah tried to attack her, hurt her or even kill her the blond vampire would be protected. That wasn’t enough to make her feel less worried for her life though.

“Where are we going ?” asked Lexi.

She wasn’t actually so curious to know where Tyallah was taking her to kill her, but she hoped that being concentrated on a conversation would have made easier for her not to think about the situation in general.

“I assure you, you’re going to love it. But I want it to remain a surprise”

“I don’t like surprises in general. I like being in control of all the situations”

“Okay, I’ll give you a suggestion. Do you believe in God ?”

Lexi blinked.  
Of course she believed in God, she took a rosary with her whenever she went, she prayed God every single night and when she could she went to Church. But it was her. Not Freya.   
Did Freya Mikaelson go to Church ? Lexi highly doubted it but then she remembered that when she used to live in New Orleans the witches who lived here usually went to Church for their reunions or something like that.  
So she wouldn’t exactly lie if she answered yer.

“I usually go there for various reasons”

“You’re a witch. I assume that the other witches usually pick the Church as place for their reunion. Well then, you said you didn’t like surprise anyway. We’re gong to Church”

“Curious choice to do something scandalous” commented Lexi with a fake smirk.

“Do you think ? People have the annoying tendency of hiding their sins from God. I don’t understand it. They feel no shame when they commit their sins and nevertheless they fear God’s judgment. I don’t. I don’t want to hide who I am, or what I’m going to do”

“And what are you going to do ?” asked Lexi with a slight flicker in the voice.

‘Henry’ smirked cruelly. His grip on her arm became stronger and more firm and Lexi for a moment feared that ‘he’ was going to break her arm although she was a vampire.  
Could a succubus being that stronger ? Apparently and Lexi was happy to be a vampire or she wouldn’t have any possibility to defend herself.   
Tyallah was impressed by the courage of not so young woman at her side, she thought that blond would run away at the first sign of threat, instead she was there.  
That was suggesting two things to Tyallah.  
First: or the girl was dumb enough not to recognize a possible dangerous situation, or she was doing what Tyallah suspected her to, the bait.  
Second: Freya Mikaelson wasn’t far away from them. Maybe she was following them and probably the other Hunter was with her.   
Tyallah hoped that the other Hunter was with the Mikaelson, it would make things easier for her.  
Tyallah knew she was going to have to fight against Stefan to kill Freya.  
She was hunting in his hunt’s territory and he knew it and according to the rules she couldn’t kill anyone in New Orleans if she didn’t defeat him first.   
If both Stefan and Freya were in same place she wouldn’t waste time in looking for them.   
Lexi saw the St. Anne’s Church, rising on front go her and Lexi had to admit it would be the perfect place to die. Macabre and penous at equal measure.   
The two of them entered in the Church and both made the sign of the cross in reverence.  
It was a weird thing seeing someone who worked for someone who called himself ‘Devil’ showing so much respect for God and being so religious.

“I hope you’re going to survive. God forgives me, but I won’t have any mercy toward you if I found out you’re a bad girl” said fake Henry pushing Lexi ahead.

Lexi turned around and she saw Henry changing. His dark short hair became longer and curly, his ivory skin became dark as dark chocolate, at place of an athletic, tall, and muscled body, a sinuous and sensual body appeared and then two black eyes like the night were scrutinizing her though long eyelashes.  
She was wearing a leather body suit and Lexi noticed that around one of her ankle there was something in silver, an anklet.  
Lexi had to admit that she was really beautiful, beautiful and lethal.

“You don’t scare me” said Lexi.

“You have nothing to fear if you have nothing to be blame for. I know you’re not my target and I know your Hunter friend is here.”

“So what ? Are you going to use me to threat him ?”

Tyallah laughed then she said “Of course not. I don’t need to use you. What I need is to defeat him to be free to kill whoever I want in New Orleans. First I defeat him, then I will kill Freya Mikaelson”

“I’m afraid it’s not going to happen… Sissy”

Tyallah smiled then he turned around to look her ‘brother’ in the face.  
She remained rather surprised from what she saw. She had seen only one Hunter in the face before and it was Sybil and she didn’t expect to see someone so young to be a Sinner Hunter. Vampires ofter were young but she didn’t expect someone so young to become one of them.   
He had to be very power angry or maybe too much idiot to caught the attention of Devil.

“So young… so handsome… it would be a shame ruin that beauty face… Where’s the girl ?”

“Safe, don’t think about her. If I were you I would be worried about myself. It’s so rude invading another hunt’s territory.”

“Is it ah ? I’m going to conquer it. I will kick your ass until I break it in two, until you beg me to stop. I will send you in teats to the Devil.”

“I love your confidence.” commented Stefan “God… It’s making me so hot… You won’t escape the Fire, sissy. I promise”

Then Stefan made his first move. He ran fast toward her, only to move at the last second, leaning forward to position himself behind Tyallah and then trying to hit her nape.  
Tyallah didn’t see him moving but fortunately for her she had excellent reflexes and so she grabbed Stefan’s arm and pushed him behind.  
Then she managed to hit him in the face with a kick and the boot heel also scratched his cheek. She tried to hit him near the ankles to make him lose his balance, but Stefan avoided her attack at took advantage of her position to surround her neck with arm while the other was keeping still her left arm.   
Tyallah pushed him behind and then hit him on the chin with a kick and then she hit him at the stomach with an elbow to push him further. Nevertheless Stefan grabbed her elbow, drawing her to him and then striking her in the stomach with a kick making her fall backwards.

“Nice move. Surely you do not hesitate to hurt a lady”

“Surely you’re not a lady fond of gentlemen”

“Oh could say that. But let’s see what you are fond of”

Then Tyallah started to change her aspect again. At her place appeared Klaus and it made Stefan wanting to punch her even more.  
At least now the guilt for punching a lady wouldn’t stop him from hitting hard.

“Oh… you like blonds… I should have understood it before, love.”

‘Fuck, she’s speaking his British accent’ Stefan thought.  
‘Klaus’ attacked first. Despite she looked like the hybrid she didn’t have his speed, so Stefan easily avoided her attack. But then Tyallah managed to surround his neck with his arm and before Stefan could realize, Tyallah kissed him.  
‘Let me see the secrets inside that head of yours… I assure you, you’re not going to regret it’.  
Stefan tried to push her away but he knew that it would be futile anyway.  
She had found a way for his mind and if he didn’t find a way to push her out of his mind he would lose that fight very soon.  
The weapon was still hide under his jacket but his body wasn’t obeying his will, it remained still, inside the arms of Tyallah.   
In that moment he got an idea.  
‘I see… so much sufferance inside your heart… There’s a struggle inside you… between who you are, who you want to be and who you can be… Let me show you something…’  
Stefan kept his eyes close, not wanting to see anything but it was useless again. Tyallah was playing with his mind so it could only stay still and trying to resist, but in the end he failed and the last thing he felt before losing his senses were the fingers of darkness reaching out from him and dragged him inside them.

…

Marcel didn’t understand what was happening but he had never felt so weak in years. His chest hurt, for not speaking of his neck where Klaus had extracted that Malatt or whatever was that disgusting thing, he felt dizzy and he couldn’t even stand up. In the end he felt thirsty, as he hadn’t drunk blood in years.  
He wasn’t in the best condition to end and win his fight against Klaus and surely not to fight against Alistair and his army.  
Klaus and Elijah shared a look. What the Hell was Alistair doing here ? What did he want ?   
Klaus felt sore all over due to his fight against the Beast and he didn’t think that he would handle a fight against Alistair.

“Did you call him ah ?” asked Klaus grabbing Marcel by his throat “What did you do it ? Did you want to ambush us ?”

“Klaus… please… Since when I need an incompetent like that to defeat you. Specially one who had the opportunity to kill you and wasted it. And now time is out… for all of us”

“What are you babbling about ?” asked Kol.

“The Hell is coming, my dear. I shouldn’t be allowed to kill in the territory of another hunter but if it is necessary to drag his ass here then I will.”

Then Alistair took a silver pocket watch in hand and Klaus quickly understood what Alistair was and above all that was planning to do. A silver pocket watch… an army… the Hell word at the begin of the conversation…  
In all those years Klaus had never understood that Alistair was a Sinner Hunter but it explained a lot of things. For example, Klaus remembered to have attempted to kill the blond several time before, once he thought to have managed to bite him but then he found that the other was alive so the hybrid thought to have missed him. Not he was sure to have actually bite Alistair that time, that the blond died and then came back by the fire of Hell.  
‘Lucky bastard’ Klaus thought.  
That was dangerous, really dangerous and Klaus had never wanted Stefan to be here with him so much before.  
They all could have died now if Alistair wanted so and there was nothing they could do about it.

“He’s a Sinner Hunter… Elijah… tell to everyone to get out of here” whispered Klaus to Elijah.

“A Sinner what ?” asked Marcel that had listened Klaus too.

“A Sinner Hunter. How could you expect to rule a kingdom if you know so little about your own kind ?” asked Alistair mocking Marcel.

“How could you know it ?” asked Elijah.

“Because he knows another Hunter, of course. I’m not going to tell his or her name, we belong to the same family after all.”

Klaus could hear the whispers spreading all over him. Everyone in there were wandering what the hell was a Sinner Hunter, who Alistair was talking about, why Klaus knew or at least imagined what Alistair was talking about.  
Above all, they all were wandering if Alistair and his army were going to attack and kill them or not.   
Klaus looked at the vampires and he recognized one blond female vampire, Sofya.   
Klaus imagined that she was one of Alistair’s spies in New Orleans.   
She was smiling cruelly at him and Klaus could imagine why.   
Klaus knew that Sofya wanted revenge against him for what he had done to her family, he knew that she had worked for Lucien Castle and now for Alistair, she described herself as a “hired gun”, she worked a mercenary and she had the ability to kill all Marcel’s army alone if Alistair told her to.

“Kol… Take Hayley and Rebekah and told to everyone to go away from here” whispered Klaus to his younger brother.

“I’m not going anywhere. Did you lose it ?” asked Kol.

“Do not insist, Kol”

“Why not ? He’s right. He’s not going anywhere, I won’t let you”

“How do you think to prevent us ?” asked Kol facing him.

Alistair smiled then he said “I hoped you would ask.” he held the silver watch in his hand, he started to move his hands and he whispered “Itsi redreyii kailfernum igiirtekh. Itsi hun eukfaah sromanaht mendafa’. Itsi eukseepowaa’ maa’.”  
(Return Fire of Hell. Starve and die. Rot and die).

Suddenly the Hellfire started to spread from the silver watch and to surround all the people around. Everyone was scared, someone began to scream, other tried to avoid the Fire, trying to escape before to be completely surrounded by the flames and ended up getting burned alive.  
Alistair smirked. No one could escape from Hellfire, so intent that it could obliterate anything within miles. Only the Devil, the kitsunes and the Sinner Hunter could control it and survive it.   
He couldn’t use the Hellfire in New Orleans since it was the hunting territory of another Hunter already, neither he could have the weapon since it was part of the territory but he could caught the attention of the Hunter to him.

“Unfortunately, since there’s another Hunter here already, I can’t kill any one of you personally and consequently I can’t send anyone right in the flames of Hell. But my dear friend here… Sofya…doesn’t have my limits and neither do my other vampires. If anyone of you dare to do something I won’t like… She will kill you without any hesitation”

“You can’t keep all of us here forever !!” shouted Rebekah.

“Of course I can, my dear. And I will, until the Hunter arrive here and he let me have what I want or he does it for me. We’re a family after all. He’s suppose to be at my side”

Klaus looked at him with pure hatred. If that bastard thought that Stefan would help him he was totally wrong.   
Maybe it was childish and inappropriate in a moment like that but Klaus didn’t accept that one of his worst enemy shared something with Stefan and he hated the idea of Stefan taking Alistair’ side even more.   
Stefan wouldn’t dare betray him like thatch wouldn’t stab him in the back and let him burn inside the Hell.   
Klaus regretted not to have asked more to Stefan about Sinner Hunters and the Hellfire. Usually Klaus was willing to ask thousands questions when he didn’t know something and he always believed that even though ignorance was a bliss knowledge guaranteed power and Klaus always chose power over everything. Except for now.   
When he had found out the truth about Stefan, Klaus wasn’t even sure to want to deal with him and he was a little scare to know more about the Devil, the Hell and the rest. If he had known he would have found himself in that terrible situation he would have asked more.  
Then he remembered that Stefan’s powers didn’t work on him but they worked on everything else.

“Elijah… think, think intensely and ask Stefan to come here right away. We need him”

“Why ? Klaus what’s going on ? What are you hiding from us ?” asked Elijah.

“Now is not the moment for an interrogatory. Do as I say”

“I don’t like when you hide something from me”

“I didn’t mean to. I didn’t know Alistair would come here, it wasn’t me who asked him for help” said Klaus looking at Marcel.

“Hey !! I wouldn’t have to if it wasn’t for you. You could have left New Orleans when they got you free, instead you chose to declare war to me.”

“Of course I did !! You have taken five years of my daughter’s life away from me !!”

“And now you could have taken the time back. Where’s your daughter now ? You chose your proud over her again !!” said Marcel who finally managed to stand up even if with much effort.

“Take back what you said… now” whispered Klaus who was on the edge of losing control.

“I won’t… A daughter for a daughter… Five years away from Hope are nothing compared to a life without Davina. You could have your family back and instead here we are again !!”

“Oh come one, you hypocrite, be honest for once in your life !!” shouted Kol “You have done this for no one but yourself. You’ve always wanted to rule New Orleans and never hesitated to use Davina for this. If the ancestors and the other witches hated her it was because she chose you over them !”

“You have no say in this, Kol. Since it was you who killed her !!” shouted Marcel.

Alistair smirked in front of the petty scene he was assisting. Hellfire not only killed its victims, but it could also be use to spread conflict and to turn people against each other. Alistair couldn’t kill them and surely he didn’t want to risk Sofya to die because one of them. She was powerful and skilled but one bite from one of the werewolf and he could lose her forever.   
Also, he hoped that something happen. Hellfire was absorbing the negativity from the people that it was surrounding. Not sins, just their negativity and he hoped that from Marcel he could absorbs something else either.   
The more they would fight, the more the Hellfire would become stronger, the funnier it would be burning down them in Hell.   
‘Your time is running out… my dear Klaus’ he though foretasting the moment of blond’s death.

“Why do they have to fight now ?” asked Hayley exasperated.

“I’ve no idea. But I’m feeling strange… I’m feeling… I don’t know… as someone’s absorbing my life away” said Rebekah who touched her chest as she began to feel pain.

“Hayley…” said Kurt to caught her attention “I’m feeling this way too… I don’t know why”

Hayley looked at him and suddenly she felt an insufferable pain inside her chest that was making her hard breathing.  
Why ? What was happening ? Why were they feeling weak ? Why did it look like Klaus, Kol, Marcel and Elijah weren’t suffering as well ?  
Why did it look like the fire around them was getting stronger ?   
What was a Sinner Hunter ?   
There hadn’t be a worse way to die then be burned down by the Hellfire and Hayley promised to herself that if she survived she would begin to go to Church again.

…

Elena, Bonnie, Caroline, Alaric and Matt arrived in a big room, or swimming pool. At the center of the room there was a big swimming pool that occupied almost the entire surface of the room and no one of them could say how much deep it was. The room had an hexagonal shape, three walls were made of tone, the other three of glass and it was possible see the water of the lake, which gave an idea of how deeply that room was located.  
Caroline trembled at the only idea of what could happen if the tree walls of glass broke.   
In the room there weren’t doors and they had no idea of how they could prosecute.

“Maybe there’s an hidden door inside the pool…” suggested Caroline not so much convinced.

“An hidden door ? How could she manage to open it if it’s under the water ?” asked Bonnie skeptical.

“I saw so many strange things in my life that I wouldn’t be surprise if there’s really a door hidden inside the pool” said Matt.

“Maybe… maybe there’s an hidden door, maybe I can try with a spell but I don’t…”

Whatever Bonnie was going to say the other would never listen the end of it because they heard someone sang. There was no one in sight, but they could hear an angelic voice clearly.   
Suddenly the water started to tremble and then they could see someone’s silhouette coming up slowly to the surface, while the song became lauder.   
At that point it was clear the whoever was swimming toward them was the same person who was singing.

“Stay alert. It could be that woman” said Elena who didn’t take her eyes off that silhouette.

From the surface appeared a young beautiful woman with a slender body, medium - length wet dark hair and an olive skin tone. She was wearing an elegant long white dress that made her look taller than she actually was.  
Everybody wandered how she managed to stand up at the center of the water.

“Greetings… I wasn’t waiting so many visitors today. Better for me then, I’ve felt so alone here recently”

“Spare us your chit chat. Where are our friends ? What have you done to them ?” asked Bonnie getting dangerously closer to the pool.

“So rude, you didn’t even introduce yourself. Are your two pathetic friends so important to forget manners ?”

“Why don’t you introduce yourself first ?” asked Caroline.

The blond wanted to know the name of them woman who had made her spent the worst day of her life.  
She had to admit that her daughters were right, the woman was really beautiful.  
‘A Psycho American Idol Reject’ she thought.

“Not bad as surname… Miss Forbes… I guess that is more original than Sybil”

“Is it your name ?” asked Alaric.

“It could fit as any other names” answered Sybil blinking her long eyelashes.

“I’m done wasting my time with you !! Where are Enzo and Damon ? What have you done to them ?” asked Bonnie.

“Take respect when you speak with me, dear. I have in hand all the winning cards in this game, while you have not much left to play. If I were you, I’m happy I’m not, I would try not to make me… nervous”

The water under her feet started to tremble and also become darker, which made harder seeing the bottom of the pool.

“But you want to see your friends… I will be happy to satisfy your wish”

Then Sybil started her song again. The new song had a faster pace, a thoughts stamp, almost as if she was dictating an order worthy of a tyrant and the water obeyed her, submitting to her will, as a slave. The more she sang, the more water agitated. The more the song became harsh, high, more like a shout of anger, and the water became violent, slamming against the edges of the pool, smacking the guys’ legs.  
Sybil hit the water with both her hands and in those points two dark silhouette started to appear.   
Both Elena and Bonne kept their eyes stuck on the water, hoping to see their boyfriend emerge from it.   
Suddenly Damon and Enzo emerged in the surface. Bonnie and Elena came closer to the pool, but Sybil stopped them.

“One step ahead… and I will kill them” said Sybil, then she smiled and continued “Now, Damon… Enzo… say hello to your friends”

“Damon, can you hear me ? Are you okay ? Did she hurt you ?” asked Elena with tears in her eyes.

“Enzo… please, say something, anything.” said Bonnie.

Enzo and Damon remained silent, looking at their girlfriends with empty eyes, but then Damon smirked cruelly and the veins appeared around his eyes,

“Hello… Elena. I see that even in this situation you couldn’t refrain yourself from being the Heroine you think to be” commented Damon.

“Damon, what are you saying ? You’re my boyfriend, our… friends… We are here for you. I’m here for you”

“You wasted your time. I don’t want you here. I don’t need you. Or… No I do, instead. I’m thirsty”

“Damon, this isn’t you. You would never say these things”

Elena wanted to believe it. Her Damon wasn’t perfect, he could be sarcastic, sometimes pretty rude, he had a lot of faults but he would never say her that things. He loved her…  
Yes, Damon had tried to drink her blood from her neck several times before their relationship started, but then he had changed, he respected her and Elena let him drink her blood.  
Damon had only ask her… why was he acting like that ?

“Enzo… Please… tell me something” pleaded Bonnie

“You know… I’ve always have to be content with the second things. I wanted Caroline to be my girlfriend but I had to be content with you. I wanted to be Damon’s brother, I had to be content with being the simply surrogate of someone else… a dark and reform shape… the leftover of what might have been…” said Enzo with bitterness and anger “… Sybil chose me first. She takes me before Damon… and she said she loves me…”

“Enzo, you don’t think these things. It was her who put these cruel things in your head. She’s just using you”

“You’ve never asked what I think. How I feel. I made you believe that we were the happy couple just not to make you run away. Because I wanted to try to be a good boy.” Enzo stopped to talk, then he looked at Damon and continued “But now… I have the lucky to serve the most gorgeous creature I’ve ever met… and him… I’ll get rid of him. We’ll get rid of him… we will stay together…”

Damon got terrible furious, his veins became darker and suddenly he grabbed Enzo by his head and immersed him in the water.   
The younger vampire tried to defend himself but Damon was angrier and stronger and determinate to prove he was the best of the two.  
Elena and the other started to scream at Damon to stop, Bonnie tried to use her magic but she realized that her magic didn’t work there.   
Sybil laughed in front of that scene that she considered really hilarious but she had already wasted so much time on useless chat and her time was running out. Without any hesitation, she broke Enzo’s neck and let him float on the water as nothing more than a puppet. Bonnie shouted, she tried again to enter in the pool, but this time Caroline stopped her from entering inside. It was obvious that Sybil controlled the water and the blond trembled at the only idea of what could happen to Bonnie if she entered inside.

“Now… Damon… You know I love you, I’ve always loved you. Since the first time we met… Do you remember it ?” asked Sybil caressing his face.

Elena was stunned for what she was seeing. Damon had never looked at her like he was looking that woman. It was the adorable look of a suppliant to his goddess, as Demon didn’t care if Sybil could kill him, or humiliate him, or manipulate him.  
Sybil had Damon wrapped around her finger and she enjoyed it.

“What are you talking about ? Damon, have you met her before ?” asked Elena.

“I did. I fell in love with her since the first time I saw her. She was beautiful in her white dress… But… my brother, Stefan, she tried to take her away from me. He was envy of what we had.”

“So… you… you have a….”

“A brother” concluded Sybil for her “An handsome younger brother that had given up his soul to save this useless waste of space”

Than she broke Damon’s neck too. Elena gasped when she heard the sound of her boyfriend’s neck getting broken and she found an unnatural hatred growing up inside her chest. Elena didn’t like that someone treated her boyfriend in that horrible way, as he was nothing more than a beast, an animal to train, a puppet to brake when she was tired of.

“Well… less two. Now… let’s talk about something important. I made you see your friends, they’re okay even if their mind is a little bit confused. I want you to take something to me”

“You’re the last person who can ask something to us !” shouted Caroline.

“I wasn’t asking, you dumb brat. You know while I’m waiting for Stefan to arrive here in Mystic Falls, I need you to find for me the Mystic Falls Founders Bell, is currently situated at the top of the Mystic Falls Clock tower.” said Sybil smirking then she continued “You have forty.eight hours to bring me that bell. If at the end of time it will not be in my possession I will order Damon to break your neck one by one. Or… I almost forgot… The faster I’ll have it, fever people will die.”

“What you mean ?” asked Matt who had taken his gun and pointed it against Sybil.

“Shot if you want, you’ll only waste a bullet” said Sybil then she continued “Anyway I swore to all of you that a person will die for each hour that I will spend without having the bell. Damon will kill a person”

“I will not let you do this. I swore to protect this city from monsters like you” said Matt shooting against Sybil.

Sybil smirked. She had excellent reflects and she grabbed the bullet inside her hand reducing it to nothing more than ashes under the other’s eyes. Then she laughed and she started to sing again. Suddenly both Alaric and Matt let their weapons fall on the floor and enter inside the pool even if the girls tried to stop them.   
The situation was so frustrating.

“I don’t tollerate disrespect… Never… Now, come here… in the black water, come closer to me”

Sybil snapped her fingers and then Damon came back alive.   
The Sirens smirked. Being the former wife but current ally of Devil had its advantages.

“If you don’t give me your words to obey my will now… I will order Damon to drain one of your two friends under your eyes. The choice is yours”

Damon smirked cruelly then he turned toward Matt and Alaric. Elena was desperately trying to speak with Damon, to implore him not to hurt his friends; Bonnie and Caroline tried to enter inside pool and drag their friends away from there but the water didn’t let them come closer.   
Only now they noticed that the water was completely black now, dark as the night and it had drowned their friends almost to the side of their hips.

“Damon… why him ? Damon please…” said Elena with tears in her eyes.

“I’m sorry Elena… but when Devil calls you have to answer and you have no choice in the matter.”

“Why do you want Damon ? You said that it will be the only one to kill people for you” asked Caroline.

“Let just say… that I feel generous enough to give you an incentive to do as I say”

Then Sybil pushed Enzo’s body away and the water took it toward Bonnie.  
The witch, with the help of the other girls, took him away from water.

“What have you done to him ? Why didn’t he come back alive ?” asked Bonnie furious.

“He will. Just give him some time. Now, give me your word and I will let your friends go or Damon will kill them”

“We do not give up on blackmail !” shouted Bonnie who was still anger for what that woman had done to her boyfriend.

“I hoped you would say so”

Sybil whispered something in Damon’s ear and then the vampire started to come closer to Matt and Alaric, slowly, prolonging the time when his fangs would skin into their necks. Damon was displeased that they were two boys, girls had softer neck and usually the perfumes they put on made their taste sweater and better.  
Sybil used her power to make the girl suffer and to know their deepest secrets at the same time.  
The three girls fell on their knees for the pain inside their head, they screamed, they tried to put it up the pain but more they fight, more intense the pain was.  
Now they all recognized the great mistake they made. They had come there imprecare, not knowing what kind of creature they would fight, what weapon could hurt her, if they found their friends and in what sort of situations. They had been arrogant and reckless and now they found in danger, all of them.   
Caroline knew she was making a mistake, but her daughters couldn’t lose their father. They had already lost their mother and if Alaric died Caroline would never forgive herself, so she did the most logic thing to do. At least she hoped.

“We give our word. We will take the Bell to you. We swear. Now let us go !” said Caroline.

“Caroline, what are you saying ?” asked Bonnie.

“The sensate thing to do. We can’t stop her. You can’t use your magic here, she can use Damon against us and she will let him kill Matt and Ric. This isn’t the moment to be proud !”

“She can’t get away with this !” shouted Bonnie.

“You have Enzo back but if you don’t accept her deal you’re going to lose him again and with him, Matt and Ric too”

“And what about Damon ? She doesn’t want let him go !” shouted Elena

“We can’t save him. If it’s true that he has a younger bother and this woman wants him here, then he is your only hope” answered Caroline sad for what she was saying.

She didn’t like the idea of sacrificing someone. But in that moment they didn’t have any other choice and she wanted her friends to understand it as well.   
Everything that happened until that moment it was their fault and now they had to pay the consequence.  
Nevertheless Caroline looked at Sybil with pure hatred and swore that one day she would snap her neck and kill her.  
Even if reluctant, Elena and Bonnie saw Caroline’s point. There was nothing they could do anymore and Damon was a few centimeters from Matt. Their time had run out.   
They gave their words to Sybil and then the Sirens started to sing again.  
It was a sweet melody and slow, like a lullaby and suddenly they all lost consciousness.  
When they resumed their senses they found their self in front of the Salvatore Boarding House, all of then for the only exception of Damon.   
Elena took the necklace she was wearing around her neck and she promised that she would take her boyfriend back.  
She was angry, angry to herself for not having been able to save him, for not having found a way to stop that woman and she was furious with Damon because he hadn’t been sincere with her again.  
Her cheeks were red for fury and the tears were so hot that she feared they could burn her skin.  
Why ? Why didn’t Damon tell her the truth about his brother ? Why did Sybil know more about Damon ? Why did Damon look at her in that way ?   
‘It doesn’t matter. Time for explanations will come. Now I have things to do’.

“Okay guys, we have a vampire to save and with him forty-eight people about. Time’s running out”

‘And then I will find you… Other Salvatore Brother. I will find you and you’re going to help me’ thought Elena while she was entering inside the house followed by the others.


	26. Ignorance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There is a feelings of safety in the ignorance, this is the reason why Stefan have been trying to ignore a lot of uncomfortable truth about himself and that now are literally torturing him.   
> Ignorance is a bliss that Elena has tried to keep to herself as long as she could, but now she needs answers, she needs to know the truth.  
> Ignorance is something that make people take wrong decision and for someone is nothing more than an insult, for other is a weakness, for other a privilege that someone's going to give up on forever.

**CHAPTER 26**

  
Stefan wasn’t feeling well, at all. He was feeling like he was always on the point of falling on the ground and fainting or on the point of throwing up even his soul. He felt weak, confused and his head was spinning around and it ached.   
Tyallah definitely didn’t go soft on him with that horrible dream. That dream what had dared revealed a lot of lies, or hidden truths, depends from the point of view Stefan wanted to analyze them.   
Stefan had spent the most of his life pondering about whether being who he was or who he could be; the monster or the hero and he always managed to take the hardest choice, the most painful, the one who put the Ripper behind the bars. It would have been false if he had said that it hadn’t been interesting watching the other version of the story, knowing what he kept giving up on, seeing what kind of man could turn him into a bad day, a bad word, a bad feelings. That was the hardest thing. Trying to kill the monster inside yourself without being killing in the process. Stefan tried every day to bite the monster’s heart, not to swallow with venom each word that Ripper could pronounced, tried to make the Ripper cry and scream and sometimes Stefan didn’t realized he was crying with him.   
The worst part was that he knew why Ripper cried, it was the same reason why Stefan cried.  
The betrayal.  
Tyallah had shown him what he feared the most. Betrayal. Losing trust he held for the people around him. His mother had betrayed him when she chose to run away with her lover and abandoned both him and Damon (he couldn’t care less about his father, Stefan had killed him himself after all), Damon had betrayed the promise he had made to him by abandoning him for a better life.  
Would Klaus betray him too ? Would Stefan be strong enough to forgive him ? Or would he give up on his soul to stop the pain ? Not to feel the emptiness anymore ?  
That was another fear Tyallah showed him through that tedious nightmare… the emptiness.  
Stefan hadn’t felt anything for a long time, hadn’t cared for anyone, not even himself, for so long that when Eri entered in his life he didn’t recognize how much happiness she gave to him and still he couldn’t completely enjoyed it.  
How could he be happy when every time that he looked at himself in the mirror he saw nothing that he appreciated ? How did he keep struggle for something he didn’t know what to do with ? He didn’t know what to do with happiness, it didn’t fit at all in his fucking life.

“I had such a fucking life…” he whispered while he felt that he was on verge of tears.

“Otōsan, I don’t think it’s the right moment for being depressed again. You have to get up”

“I can’t… The Devil is behind my back again… he’s hungry and He wants to eat me alive. Now… now that he knows that he can win. I can’t protect me from him if…. I want to come back home” screamed Stefan bursting in tears.

“Oh my God…” whispered Freya.

She had never seen anyone in full depressive crisis and she had to admit that it wasn’t something good to see. Freya didn’t know that guy so well but she felt pretty sad for him. Whatever vision Tyallah had showed him didn’t have to pretty and it was clearly driving him crazy or he wouldn’t have been bubbling all those nonsense. She wanted to do something to help him since he was in those conditions to help her but she didn’t know what to do.   
His best friend, Lexi, was hugging him from behind, probably to comfort him but also to encourage him to stand up while his daughter dried the tears on his cheeks.  
Freya turned toward the Huntress, who was lying on the floor, trying to take the dagger out of her chest but without succeeding. Freya hoped she was suffering a lot.   
The blond witch came closer to her to look her better.   
It was clear that that dagger was causing her an insufferable pain and suddenly she had tears in her eyes too. Freya got on her knees near Tyallah.

“Why was it so important to you to kill me ? Why did you reduce this way someone who belongs to your unholy family ?” asked Freya.

“I’ve nothing against you. My Master ordered me to kill you and I obeyed, or I tried. I lost and Stefan won. What do you think my Master will do to me when he will know that I’ve failed ?”

“I don’t care. You should have thought about it before making a deal with Devil.”

Tyallah laughed. A squeaky sound, hallway between a bang and a grin that had nothing human. Tyallah had nothing human in the first place.   
She was a demonic female, who was used to feed herself on the desperation and the fear of people around her. A lethal black widow who killed the man whose fell in love with her and their friends too. A parasite for people’s mind.  
Tyallah was a create that only few bold people had the courage of call “woman”.

“Didn’t you know it ? Bad girls have all the fun !!”

Tyallah finally managed to take the dagger off her body and everything inside the Church trembled for a moment and the anklet hidden inside her boot started to shine.

“Finally… I can’t put it up with that tedious thing anymore. The little girl really hurt me. I should have expected. Every girls fight for the men of their hearts”

“This means that I don’t have fear you ?” asked Freya, trying to resting to the temptation of torturi her with her magic.

“For now. Maybe Cade will order Stefan to kill you and he will have to obey and then you will be in danger again.” answered Tyallah smirking.

“Good. Now cure him”

“I can’t do anything for him. When I use my power on someone I dragged them where they couldn’t go themselves… their subconscious. I make them see their intimate desires, their fears, their guilty pleasure and I make them real, all of them. And the dream became more real and more painful when it comes to the end and I’m ready to eat their soul. He’s one of the few who has been lucky enough to survive but his recover won’t be easy.”

Tyallah looked suddenly sad when she looked at Stefan and partially she was sorry for him. She wasn’t a Saint. She had hurt a lot of people in her life, she had eaten alive a lot of women and men, even children sometimes but she had swore that the other member of the unholy family would have never been a necessary evil.   
Even if the Hunters didn’t know each other’s name or each other’s face, it could be said that they knew the most intimate part of each other since all their minds were linked. They knew what meant being part of the unholy family, being alone in world, being repeatedly hurt my people, fighting constantly against their own monsters only to be devoured by them in the end. Looking at the past, when you could attend school and being with people of your age and talking about clothes and homework, when you had the opportunity of creating social relationship of various kind. When you smiled at your parents who loved you so much and who saw nothing more than a god gentle girl with a bright future.  
Tyallah looked at Freya and she could say by her sins that the blond witch had suffered a lot herself. She had attempted suicide, then she had tried for years to get her revenge on her aunt, then she helped her family to kill, torture and defeat their enemies, but before that she tried to put the Mikaelson’ siblings one against the other, or better, Klaus against everyone else.

“Devil is hungry… He knows he could win, he know how to get me weak. He knows how hurt me now. The Hell will burn me. He’s going to eat me alive, I know. I want to go home, please, I want to go home” said Stefan who was still crying.

“He’s not in conditions of fighting against Marcel” said Lexi caressing Stefan’s hair.

“Or another Hunter. Your friend is feeling too much pain to realize that another Hunter is here in New Orleans and that he’s threatening your family” said Tyallah looking at Freya with a cruel smirk.

“Because of him… him… I wear on my face the most infamous mask…”

Stefan was bubbling about things and the girls around him, for the only exception of Tyallah, had no idea if Stefan was talking about the same person or different ‘him’.  
Eri kissed Stefan forehead.

“Lexi… I’m going to take my otōsan home. We need to have a moment alone.”

“He can’t. She said my family is in danger because of another Hunter. They can’t be saved without him”

“I could care less actually !!” Eri shouted “Your entire family could burn in Hell, it’s not like they don’t deserve, but my father can’t fo there, not in this condition. I won’t let him to be humiliated and hurt more than necessary.”

Freya didn’t appreciate that answer so she used her magic on Lexi and began to torture her.  
Of course that action wasn’t appreciated by Eri who invoked her Kyuubi but then she had better idea.  
‘Watashi wa katta. Watashi wa anata o uchi makashita. Ima, watashi ni shitagatte kudasai. Anata wa kanojo o gōmon suru’ (I won. I defeated you. Now, obey me. Torture her).   
As daughter of the winning Hunter and since it had been Eri who stabbed Tyallah with the dagger, she would have command her until she left the city and the Huntress couldn’t do anything to disobey.   
Despite her submitting position, Tyallah didn’t seem to mind it, probably because she was used to be command by people or she was just glad to be allow to hurt someone else. Specially someone like Freya.  
The blond witch noticed the Huntress coming toward her and she tried to push her away with her magic.

“Ah ah ah. Your little games of prestige won’t work with me. Your magic is strong but your will is weak and your arrogance will take you so far. Believe, it’s not far enough”

Tyallah grabbed Freya by her throat and made her looking ih her black eyes.

“I thought that you Hunters were religious. Not enough to avoid to use violence in the house of God”

“We are religious, dear. Unfortunately we also have a bad reputation to preserve. Now… let me see in that little mind of yours… Oh… You had always been a mischievous nasty little girl since you planned pranks with your brother against your parents. Which means that you are born with darkness inside your heart. This is why your hunt had been so bad with you. It wasn’t her, it was you. Darkness always attract more darkness”

“No… No… I was a good person, a good child. My mom…”

“She said that you brought light in her life only because there was Klaus with her. What do you think ? Esther had lied to Klaus too when the situations required a moving fairytale when the lovely mother is sad because she finally realized that she hasn’t been good enough with her children and that she feels guilty for her mistakes.”

“She was sincere, she said she has missed me”

“In fact when she came back from the Death in Mystic Falls the first she has done was warning her other children about your existence, to save you. Admit Esther had no consideration for you. Let me show you”

Then Tyallah touched Freya’s forehead and manipulated all her memories so that Freya could believe that was she was saying was true. That the blond was the bad girl, that she was the only one to blame for the sufferance of her life. She saw Esther who blamed her for all the bad things happen to her family; the fact that Mikael had never been able again to love someone to be kindness with someone, not even his children, ever again; the fact that she had an affaire with another man to receive the attention and the kindness that her husband denied her. She saw her aunt who reproved her the fact that she had never tried to love like a mother, that it was only Freya’s fault if Dahlia had been cruel with her.  
She saw Mathias who blamed her for their son’s death, he reproved her her weakness, her incapacity of being strong for both of them, her self centered behavior.

“Please stop… I don’t want… I’m not that kind of person”

Freya bursted in tears and her lips started to tremble. She didn’t want to see those things, they weren’t true, they couldn’t be true. She wasn’t the executioner, she was the victim. Her mother abandoned her because she couldn’t accept her sterility. Her hunt was a cruel person with her because she saw Esther in Freya and she wanted to punish her little sister for her abandon.   
She didn’t mean to kill her son, he wasn’t born yet and nevertheless she already loved him. Freya used to be so happy during her pregnancy, so happy that she felt in Paradise and only when she had lost her son she saw her life turning into a living Hell.

“Tyallah… Is enough. She needs to stay strong a little longer. Her fight is not over yet” said Eri

The little kitsune knew that Tyallah was going to show to Freya and despite her anger toward the blond witch, she was too wise to know that it would be too much to handle.  
And there was no other time to waste, she needed to take her otōsan back home and tried to understand what was tormenting him like that.  
Ignorance was a bliss, in a moment like that she could have easily ignored her father’s pain, but she needed him, Klaus needed him, his family needed him. Eri couldn’t help him if she didn’t know the truth.

“I have a plane, but I need your collaboration and your attention. I’m a kitsune, there are no other creature capable of resolving this situation better than me. So, that’s what we are going to do”

…

Bonnie was sitting on the armchair in the Salvatore Boarding House’ living room. Enzo was leaning over the couch, without giving any sign that he was going to wake up soon. When Alaric and Matt have helped Bonnie to take him inside house, all of them noticed that Enzo’s skins was colder than usual. Vampire’s skin was always colder than human ones, but this time Enzo’s skin was particularly cold. Bonnie had tried to wake him up, initially touching him, moving him, scolding him then she tried to use her magic to wake him up, but nothing worked.  
Enzo was still sleeping.   
She also asked Caroline to take his hand and communicate with him, but the blond vampire hadn’t been capable.  
Apparently there was something wrong with Enzo, something that was isolating him from the rest of the world, from Bonnie. Something darkness, that maybe was killing him from the inside.  
Enzo looked peaceful, but maybe his mind was suffering, maybe whatever spell had been put on him was causing him visions, illusions, God, Bonnie didn’t even want to think about it. She just wanted to have her boyfriend back and she regretted to have listened Caroline when she suggested to accept the bitch’s deal.   
Bonnie should have asked guarantees, she should have asked Sybil if Enzo was going to be okay, if the Siren had done something to damage his mind.   
Bonnie had been so careless.   
‘But at least you’re here. Elena has been even less lucky than me’ Bonnie thought taking Enzo’s hand.  
Elena was in Damon’s room (because she refused to consider it theirs at the moment) and she was trying to find something helpful inside Damon’s room that could help them. Alaric was somewhere looking for any kind of clue or notes that could help them to defeat Sybil and to find out something more about the Bell. Its history, its use, why it could be so important for Sybil.   
Matt was at the district doing his job, his real job, looking for some human criminals who had committed human crimes.  
Elena envied Matt for having preserved a little bit of normality inside his life.  
He didn’t have any crazy psychopath boyfriend who had been lying to his stupid naive girlfriend since the beginning and who was currently prisoner of another psychopath woman.  
Elena didn’t know what she hated the most, if it was the awareness that Damon had been hiding a part of his life, his brother, to her although he knew how much family was important for her; or the fact that he was with another woman who was playing with his mind and using him like a toy.

“But I’m going to save you Damon, not matter what” she whispered while she was groping between his drawers “And then I will kill you if you don’t give me answers”

She didn’t even know what she was looking for. Damon was a genius when it came to hide his secrets. For the frustration, she grabbed a drawer by the handles and opened it with so much strength that she made it fall on the floor.

“Fantastic. I’m becoming like him. I invade other’s privacy and brake things when I can’t find what I’m looking for. Everyone says that Damon has a bad influence on me and now I can say t…”

She would have kept complaining about Damon forever if it wasn’t for a little old notebook or journal that had fallen on the floor with the drawer.  
Elena took it and then she observed it carefully.  
Damon wasn’t the type of guy who write his inner thoughts and feelings on a journal. He found that habit ridiculous and she knew because she was used to have a journal herself and Damon had never missed to kid her for it and sometimes even invading her privacy by reading it without her permission.   
So who this journal belonged to ?   
An idea started to form inside her head, even thought she tried hard to push it away. Until that moment she hadn’t found any incontrovertible proof that suggested her that what Sybil and Kol had said to her was true, that Damon had a brother and that he had abandoned him. Strangely she found the doubt more appealing than another disappointing truth about the man she loved.   
What if she opened that diary and then she found out that it belonged to Damon’s brother ?  
Would she able to swallow another bitter bite ?  
Would she be able to trust Damon ever again ?   
Would she be able to forgive him this time ?  
If it did belong to Damon why her boyfriend would have hid it from her ?  
Elena would have never said something not to make him feel at easy for it.   
No, the journal she was keeping belonged to someone else, someone who used to be important for Damon, someone who Damon didn’t want her to know about.  
Elena was afraid of opening that damn journal, was afraid of the truth but she also knew that lies weren’t going to help her in that situation, not when the man with all the answers was currently indisposed.  
She took a deep breath, then she looked at the journal again and she opened it.   
Ignorance was a bliss she couldn’t afford.

…

Sybil couldn’t say she wasn’t satisfied about how things had developed. After all, she was always glad when her plans went her way and she couldn’t avoid to smirk at the only thought of that tedious witch bitch’s face when she would find out that her stupid dumb boyfriend wasn’t going to wake up very soon.   
That didn’t mean that she could let her guard down. She had found out from Damon’s memories that that little group of losers had been capable of defeating various dangerous people, more powerful than them. They had lost a lot of people along the way but in the end they had always win. Sybil couldn’t let this happen, not yet at least. Not when she was constantly on the point of losing her freedom forever.  
She would be a liar if she denied that it hadn’t been fun using her power of Queen of Hell another time. She usually avoided to use that powers because they remembered her too painful memories, because them remembered him her past, who she used to be, the Devil’s wife, the mother of all the Hunters, the Queen of Hell.  
Sybil didn’t want to be that person anymore, she didn’t want to submit to Cade’s will, being unable to take decisions on her own. She wasn’t the type of woman to command by a man, she wanted her independency.

“I can be a woman of power. The tool inside the basement would agree with me” said Sybil.

In that moment she was in her bedroom, sitting on the edge of her bed with a glass of vine, a big glass. She deserved it after all.  
Dealing with a bunch of idiots could be very stressful, specially when you a temporary assistant who was even more dimwit.   
Well, she had planned everything at the last minute, she didn’t have the time to find someone better..   
Maybe it was even better that way.  
Damon’s will was weak, easy to manipulate, easy to control. So easy that she managed to locked him up inside the basement and he had done nothing to stop him. So easy that she had turn him against his own girlfriend and still his will had been too weak to fight against her power.

“Now I have no doubt of who is the spineless brother of the two Salvatore”

“And nevertheless you shouldn’t underestimate him”

That voice made her jump and lost the grip on the glass, that fell on the floor and shattered in pieces.  
How long hadn’t she heard that voice personally ? Like really heard. He hadn’t talked with her through telepathy.   
Sybil couldn’t believe that he was there with her.

“Henrik ?”

She was one of the few people who still called him by his original name, and she felt flattered because he allowed her to.   
Henry smiled. He loved to see that expression and only he realized how much he had been missing her since she gained her freedom back.  
Sinner Hunters couldn’t stay together, that valued for the Queen too, but when Sybil used to be an Huntress herself, Henry had the certainty that he could have found her somewhere, that she was there for him and they could have met and spent sometime together before coming back into loneliness.  
When Stefan had took her place, Henry felt abandoned, alone as he had never felt before because he felt he had just lost his anchor, his best friend, his… special one somehow.   
It was beautiful seeing her.

“I think a hug would be appropriate, don’t you think ?” asked Henry coming closer to her.

“Really ? We haven’t limited on hugs since you became eighteen years old. When you asked me to teach you in the so called ‘love arts’.”

“I bet I’ve been your best pupil”

“You’ve been the only one, then you used them improperly” said Sybil standing up “But I missed you too” said hugging him.

“Sex is a mean of control and power, Sybil. I consider my body more like a weapon than a way to show my dignity.”

“And a way to manipulate Cade. Your time is over too now. He wants Stefan”

“But Stefan has already found a soul to save and it would be only a matter of time before he will be free. Nevertheless he wants the Devil dead and this is why I’m here”

“I thought we have already a plan”

“Yes, but it’s become complicated. We need to change some details and we need of that bunch of fools to do it.”

“For being a witch you own too little respect for humans”

“I hate their imperfections actually. They make this world uglier”

Sybil smirked. She knew where and from who she had heard something like that.   
Cade had pronounced them like a mantra, to remember them their grandeur, their magnificent upon sinners, upon the ones who ruined the beauty of the world, upon the sinners who ruined the harmony of the world and who deserved to be killed.  
Sybil had followed that ideal for a long time before understanding that she wouldn’t have gone far with it. That was the main difference between her and Henry.  
She was three hundred years old, she had lived in different age, she had got used to different religions, politic movements, women conditions, costumes. Different ages but same story. Men had always lived by the same rules, victims of the same desires, guilty of the same sins. Same scenarios but different setting.   
The real balance of the world was its incapacity of changing its nature.  
That was another reason why she considered her former job as Queen of Hell futile.   
Henry not. Henry was power hungry, he disapproved the way Cade treated his subordinates, the way he treated his ‘descendants’, but he didn’t completely disagree with the way he treated humans in general.  
Sybil was aware that the the kind of grudge that Henry held toward people was different from Cade’s ones.  
Cade hated normal people, the mundane things, the ignorant with a limited mind, ready to spit judgments even about topic they didn’t know anything about. The biggest sin Cade wanted to punish was the ignorance.  
‘Ignorance is the most serious form of insult the human being is capable of. It’s a virus that needs to be eradicated. A distortion to be eliminated. One reason why it is worth killing for. Sins are an insult to God’s perfection’   
It was true after all. People tended to be afraid of things they couldn’t understand, of things they didn’t know, fear caused impulsivity, impulsivity caused violence. Violence created a world less perfect.  
Because of the ignorance of his people, Cade died when he was human, burned at stake.   
Henry instead held another kind of grudge. He was still in the face when he wanted revenged against everyone who had dared to hurt him. He wanted to dominate, or better, he wanted to dominate Hell.   
Power hungry, as his brother Klaus.   
Son of the Devil.  
Whore of the Devil.  
Knight of the Devil.  
Murder of the Devil.  
King of Hell.  
Sybil smirked thinking about his boldness. Well, certainly whatever thing Henry had in his mind was going to be fun.

“So… what’s the plan ?” asked Sybil.

“Well, I found out that the only weapon powerful enough to kill the Devil is currently unattainable. We could never put our hands on it from here and we can’t oblige no one to get it for us.”

“Where is it ?”

“Under the Devil’s control of course. So this is my plan. An exchange. A thing for a thing. A weapon for a weapon”

“You don’t have anything else to sold to Cade. Neither do I”

“I wasn’t talking about us, Sybil” answered Henry smirking.

Sybil looked at him stunned “Are you going to tell him ?”

“Ignorance is bliss no one of us can’t afford, my Sybil. Stefan can be a valuable alley but also a dangerous enemy if he finds out something he doesn’t like.”

“He won’t be willing to risk so much”

“He would. For Damon, for Eri, for his family, for the people he loved. Stefan is damaged but not damaged enough and differently from us, his heart could still be saved. Of all of us, he’s the only one who doesn’t have to fear Hell”

“Well, since it seems you’re going to stay here for a long time, I think I would do better to update you about our new friends”

“So soon ? Shouldn’t we reinforce our friendship ?” asked Henry smirking.

Sybil looked at him with sadness “Oh my dear friend, I’ve been burnt too many times by men. My heart wouldn’t survive to another… disappointment”

“You broke my heart last time, Sybil. I fell in love with you, I gave you my heart.”

Henry was to proud to admit but he really missed her. His missed the warm of her body, her fingers through his hair, that touched him all over his body.   
Henry missed to love her chest, the curves of her body, to bite her soft skin and left his marks to make everyone clear who she belonged to.   
She was the desire that had never left his heart, the delirium that poisoned his mind, a passion so strong that shook his legs.   
An orgasm that caught him unprepared, and unprepared left him in the cold and informal cradle of solitude.

“I should never allow you to come close to me, Henry. I’m a dangerous woman. I wanted to be loved, I wanted to be desired. I saw myself in you and I cling on the hope that I could have back some of the innocence lost”

“It’s what happen when you fall in love with a snake.”

“I had done what it took to keep him with me. I became exactly who he wanted me to be. I gave him all the love I could give to someone. I married him”

“I see… you still wear his ring. It reminds of what I could never have.”

“I didn’t want to make you my lover”

Henry smiled with the same sadness. It didn’t matter anymore. The days when Sybil was an hungry female for him were over. He had enough dignity not to insist on the risk of looking pathetic and he also had too respect for her to be too much insisting. The memories of her kisses, her caresses and the perfume of her skin were everything he had left of that memorable moment and they all belonged to him. Not to Cade, not to anyone.

…

Alistair Duquesne was loosing his patient. The only thing that was refraining him from doing something impulsive was the blond girl at his side, Sofya.   
She was the most important person in his life, a little taste of serenity, joy and peace after the loss of his family.   
It was incredible how they found each other, they shared their hatred for Mikaelson family, specially Klaus.   
Klaus had destroyed both their family and they agreed on the fact that he deserved to die.   
If the blond Hunter had be sincere, he hadn’t been fair with Sofya. He had never had the courage to tell her that she was his soul to save, that he could have helped her a long time ago to move on with her life, forget her desire for revenge, he could have helped her to be happy again. Instead he had been lying to her since the begin. When he met Sofya, she was devastated, angry, furious, she desired nothing more but revenge on Klaus and his family and he found in her a sort of Evil Soulmate.   
A partner for his revenge. A partner for his life.  
He was selfish but he couldn’t help Sofya, not yet. Not before the Mikaelson nightmare was over.

“I hoped for something more entertaining today” Sofya whispered to him.

“Haven’t you had enough fun with Marcel all these years ?”

“Marcel is boring and he’s not my man. There’s no need to be jealous because I missed you”

“Have you been able to keep that thing in control ?”

“Somehow. I can keep it in control better when I’m with you. I want that thing out of me.”

“I know. I would find a way, I promised it to you”

Sofya had a sort of dark force inside her who took control over her sometimes. Alistair knew what it was. Chūkū, also knows as the Shadow. A Nogitsune.   
Alistair had no idea how the fox ended up inside Sofya’s body because he couldn’t see her sins and he had no idea how to defeat a fox so powerful.  
He had done a lot of researches about kitsune that was why he had recognized quickly the Malach behind Marcel’s neck.   
Sofya didn’t want to talk about it, probable she feared of losing, without knowing that if she didn’t tell him it, he wouldn’t be able to help her.   
Actually he wasn’t even sure if it was a Nogistune exactly or not, but from the researches he had done, it was the most logical explanation and he hoped he wasn’t wrong.  
There were no words to explain how ignorant he felt when he didn’t know something, specially when it came with informations that could help him to save the woman he cared about.

  
“Is the other Hunter arriving ?” asked the girl.

“Let me concentrated…”

Alistair closed his eyes and he used his powers to find another Hunter. Suddenly he found two Hunters, they had fought, one of them had won, but he couldn’t say who of them.  
Probably the one who was arriving there to fight against him. While Alistair was trying to locate the other Hunter, Klaus, Elijah and Marcel had began to discuss again.

“Elijah, for heaven’s sake, are you doing what I ordered you to ? Are you asking Stefan for help ?”

“Yes, brother. Even if I found highly improbable that your murdering boyfriend would come here to save our life. I’m not completely sure we can trust him since he seems to keep a lot of secrets and since he and Alistair are both Hunters. Who could tell us they are not allegiance ?”

“In that case Stefan would have allowed Alistair to kill all of us or he would have done it by himself to pleasure his colleague”

“Who could guarantee us that it’s no what he’s going to fo ? I have never thought I could have said but you’re letting your feelings for him blinding your judgment.” accused Elijah.

“He’s always let his feelings clouding his judgement. Anger, paranoia, hatred have always lead his actions this is why we all are here in this moment.” said Marcel who was still bleeding from the wound behind his neck.

“Fantastic. I should have scratched deeper inside your neck since apparently that hole is not big enough to make you stay quite. We wouldn’t have found in this situation if it wasn’t for you and your stupidity. You brainless brat, what was you thinking when you let a kitsune putting that thing inside you ?”

“Do you think I wanted it ? Of course you do. It’s easier pointing your fingers and blame other for your mistakes.”

“You’re funny. Really. Because between you and me you are the one who have been blaming me for five years for any bad things happened in your life. You dared putting me on a trial last time and…”

“A merciful decision for not killing you.”

“… Yes, in fact I’m surprised that you didn’t try to repeat the experience. That you haven’t invited the rest of my former bloodline to make them assist at my death…”

“Oh I’m surprised that you have payed attention to something else over yourself !” said Marcel with venom.

“I did. Where’s your gavel ? Your jury ? What’s my offense this time ?”

“One, I prefer daggers when it come to you. Secondly, I’m totally capable of juggling you guilty myself. Thirdly, I would spare to repeat you all your faults, because I would be capable of continuing for other three years. You’re lucky that I’m not going to judge you today or I would have sentenced you to another life !”

“Pity. Is not me who another tediously little witchy bitchy brat was waiting in the Other Side” whispered Klaus with the same venom.

“You Jerk, I wouldn’t allow you..:”

Marcel was going to punch Klaus in the face and he tried to stand up but suddenly he felt a huge stomachache that made him fall on the floor again and then he began to throw up worms on the floor.   
A lot disgusting worms dirty of his blood.  
Klaus and Elijah were looking at him with disgust but also worry, since they didn’t have any idea of what was happening to him.

“What the Hell ?”

Marcel’s neck gave a small snap, the typical sound of bones when they repaired themselves after being broken. All his body started to tremble and shiver and then all his bound started to give snaps.

“What’s happening to him ?” asked Sofya who was looking at the beast.

“Klaus shouldn’t have taken the malach off. But now this is not our main problem. The other’s Hunter is here”

Before Sofya had the possibility of asking something another person arrived and everyone looked at her.  
She was a beautiful woman, so beautiful that she didn’t even look real. She was tall, with a wonderful athletic body, with long dark hair like night, a sensual pair of lips that looked soft like velvet, with chocolate skin.   
She was dressed up entering in leather that put in evidence her sensual body but a part from her beautiful shape there was something in particular that drew attention toward her.  
Her eyes were so deep and so black that looked capable of reading anyone’s soul.  
She passed over Klaus, Elijah and Marcel without even looking at them, instead she looked directly at her brother with a cruel smirk worthy of the worst psychopath.

“Well hello, it seems like I choose the right party to crush” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello readers !! The title of this chapter is inspired by the song "Ignorance" of Paramore. I listened the song and I considered it perfect for this chapter. I hope you have enjoyed my idea as well :).


	27. The solitude of the snake

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stefan is victim of illusions who are making him suffer terribly so Eri and Lexi elaborate a plan to defeat Alistair and protect everyone.   
> In his delusion, Stefan will find out a part of himself that will help him to understand better the King of Snake.

**CHAPTER 27**

  
“Who the hell are you ?” asked Klaus looking at the woman with hostility.

“What a rude. Is this the way to talk to a lady ? I’m not here for you blondie hybrid. I’m here for the blondie Hunter who dares to invade my hunting territory”

“I didn’t know it was yours. I thought to meet another Hunter” answered Alistair.

Klaus gasped. So the woman was an Huntress, but what did it mean that Alistair was invading her hunting territory ? Where was Stefan ? What had happened to him ? Where was his older sister ? He knew he shouldn’t have left Freya but he had rusted Stefan to protect her.  
Maybe Elijah was right, he was letting his feelings for Stefan clouding his judgment. Six years ago he would have never trust a stranger to save and protect one of his siblings. He had done it for the first time now and he was regretting it.  
That woman, Tanya, Tonya, he couldn’t remember her name, looked dangerous and psychotic, the kind of murder who swallowed the food before eating it. The kind of girl who made man falling in love with her only to eat their soul in the end.   
A dangerous girl and Klaus knew he shouldn’t underestimate her.   
She wasn’t what Alistair was expecting himself. His spies had told him that the Hunter was a boy, a young boy, even. Not a woman between twenty-five and thirty years old.

“What are you doing here ? Why did our Master send you here ?”

“Not for the same reason. I had to come here to kill Freya Mikaelson, but I couldn’t do it because it wasn’t my hunting territory. I defeated the other Hunter and I killed my target and nevertheless I couldn’t consider New Orleans my hunting territory because of you. Go away, brother”

“Did you kill Freya ?” asked Elijah while veins appeared on his cheeks.

Tyallah ignored him. She was already bored to put up with brats but she had no choice Fortunately, She was a good liar and she had also learnt how to hide her sins from other Hunters. It wasn’t exactly like hiding, it was more like confusing her sins with the other’s ones so that Alistair couldn’t understand what were her sins and what not.   
She knew that until Alistair didn’t find out the truth, she would stil have the upper hand there.

“I repeat myself, for the last time, did you kill Freya ?”

Tyallah burst out and started to laugh “It was a memorable moment.”

Elijah let the fury took over him and attacked the woman. Tyallah smiled, almost with pity. She waited for Elijah to be close enough to grab him by his throat to make him stay still, then he grabbed his arm and brake it. Elijah tried to get free of her grip but then Tyallah looked him in the eyes.

“No… you can’t attack me. You love me, right ?”

Elijah felt a sort of force that was taking control of both his mind and body and he tried to fight it, but the more he fought the less he could control his body. What kind of creature that woman was ?   
How could she manage to overtake an Original Vampire like him ?  
When he dared to look her in the eyes again, he remained stunned from what he saw.  
There was anymore that beautiful but lethal woman in front of him. but Hayley, who was smiling at him with kindness.

“My love, you have such a beautiful hands. Why don’t you use them to scratch your cheeks until they bleed ? I want to see your blood”

“No !! Elijah don’t listen to her !!” screamed Hayley who stil couldn’t move from reasons she couldn’t understand.

Tyallah smirked when the stupid dumb old man started to scratch the skin of his cheek, slowly at the begin and then faster and faster until he screamed from the pain. Klaus appeared at his back, grabbed his both arms and held both his wrist tight with his hands, trying to stop him from keeping scratching his face.  
Kol attack Tyallah but she managed to defeat him too. Using not even half of her strength she managed to brake his wrist and then she ripped all the fingers from his hands.

“If you don’t want that the next part of your body rip would be your heart, I highly recommend you to stay away from me”

Then she grabbed him by his throat and pushed him away from her.

“Much better. Ages passed but men remain rude.”

“Listen me up, I don’t want to fight against you. I’m here only because I want something. A weapon”

“A weapon strong enough to kill all the Original Vampires ? Included the Beast ? What makes you think that I don’t want it myself ?”

“I have better reasons for owning that weapon. Master promised it to me”

“And we all know Master’s promises worth even less than the paper they are written on”

The fire all around them became even more intense, the flames got higher and looked ready to devour everything around them. Apparently the power of flames was controlled by Alistair, so the more the blond vampire got angrier, the more the flames became dangerous. It was almost clear to everyone that everyone of them had very little chance of getting out alive if they dared to do some harsh moves.   
The only one who didn’t looked intimidate was Tyallah, who was the only one that would have survived at the Hellfire.

“You know, I do really hate you men, and it’s always a pleasure to me to kick your ass until it blow up. So… don’t me the coward. Fight against me and if you win I’ll go away. I’ve already done my job here”

“Like if it is nothing more than a business family. Intriguing.”

‘Come on, pretty thing. Get out of my way. You’re not the Sinner Hunter here or you wouldn’t have hesitate to kill all of them’ Alistair told Tyallah through his mind.  
That woman wanted to deceive him but there was any chance. Alistair was an Hunter himself, he knew how his ‘comrades’ acted in situations, he knew that it wasn’t allowed to anyone of them to show mercy to sinners and no one around them was a good person. They all deserved to die.  
But Tyallah was simply humiliating them, showing her power but not her cruelty. The leash around her neck was being kept tight by someone else that wasn’t Cade. Interesting.  
‘If I were you, and I’m glad I’m not, I wouldn’t feel so victorious, you here with your vampires, your… group ? I’m here on my own and without any weakness to hide to no one’   
‘I have no weaknesses or I would have been dead a long time ago. I should also warn you that your powers won’t work on me”  
‘Why not ?’.  
‘There’s a loophole that only few are aware about your succubus’ powers.’  
‘Oh I see… Well, in that case you’ve just reveled me another of your weakness’  
Tyallah smiled cruelly, then she slightly moved her ankle where there was the ankles. Her eyes became burnt orange and the Hellfire started to come out from her anklet.   
It was still surprising the amount of tricks an Hunter could learn when it came with the Hellfire.   
Succubus normally couldn’t dominate and control water, air, earth but the fire, the Hellfire was a part of them. For an Hunter, controlling the hellfire was the same of controlling the movements of their own body.   
The fire that came out from her anklet split up in two parts which turned into snakes.  
Tyallah was satisfied when she saw the fear and the terror appearing in the eyes of all people there,   
She used Verbis Diablo to control the two snakes and ordered them to attack the other Hunter.  
Alistair smirked. He had already wasted too much time with that little obnoxious bitch and he wasn’t glad to wast more, but he had no choice.  
He recollected the Hellfire that he had used before and made it turn into hands that grabbed the two snaked by their throat and stopped them.

“Nice trick, but not strong enough and my last statement still stands. You have nothing to use against me, included your power”

“That’s not completely right. You told it. Only people who are deeply in love with someone could resist to my powers. If the concentrate enough on the person who owns their heart. Do you finally realize the importance of the clue that you have just given to me ?”

‘Shit…’ Alistair couldn’t avoid to think.  
‘That’s right. There’s someone you love, my dear. Someone you really care about. I bet she’s here and when I will find her, I’m going to kill her’.

“Sofya… take the other out of the city.”

“What ? No, I’m not going to leave you”

“I will be okay. I’m an Hunter myself. I will be totally capable of having care of myself. I promise I will follow you later”

Sofya opened her mouth to reply. Clearly she wasn’t keen of obeying his order and leaving him alone in that situation but she wasn’t a fool. She knew she couldn’t have stood any chance against a Sinner Hunter. Alistair himself didn’t have earn a dangerous fame amongst other vampires for nothing. She had seen him using his powers against his enemies and anytime she felt both exited and scared.   
In the end she obeyed and went away with the other vampires.  
Klaus knew at that point that he and other would have better find a way out too. He had never assisted to a fight between two Hunters and even he wanted someone of his family or Hayley’s pack remained involved and he had to look for Stefan. Winner or loser, he needed to know that the brunette was safe and well. Now that Alistair was using all the Hellfire to stop the two snakes, so they weren’t surrounded anymore by flames and if they were fast enough they could have went away, specially because all Alistair’s attention was focused on Tyallah.  
Without any further hesitations, he brake Elijah’s neck, to prevent his brother from scratching his face, then he ran toward the other.

“Take him home and go away. We can’t stay here any longer”

“I think it’s a good idea. It doesn’t look but the bitch is strong” said Kol taking his older brother on his shoulders.

“Wait, aren’t you coming with us ?” asked Rebecca.

“I can’t. Not yet. There’s something strange here and I want to find Stefan. I’m not sure that what that woman had said is true.”

“Why ?” asked Hayley.

“I don’t know why but I know she’s bluffing and I have the sensation that Alistair had discovered her bluff too. For now, no more questions. We have to get out of here”

“What about Marcel ?”

Klaus turned over the Beast and he saw him still vomiting worms and blood. He would slow them down, but they couldn’t let him there either. It would have been too dangerous.   
After all, grudge or not, Klaus didn’t want something bad happen to Marcel, he didn’t ask for someone to put a Malach behind his neck. Despite his stubbornness that pushed him to consider his former son as a brainless brat, he knew that Marcel would have never been dumb enough to be convinced by someone to put that crap inside his body. Above a crap that could control his will. Quickly he ran toward Marcel and brake his neck too. He didn’t know how long Marcel would remain unconscious since his conditions but it was another reason to go to Stefan. Eri was a kitsune, she surely would know how to help Marcel.   
He dragged Marcel toward the other and ordered them to take Marcel home too.   
Hayley opened her mouth to reply but a big explosion near them barely burnt them alive. Klaus was right, it wasn’t the right moment or the right place for questions. They had to go away and they did.

…

_“You chose her Klaus… you chose to feed on her love…”_

Stefan screamed as he was just bitten from one of the wolfs again. He could feel them, its teeth penetrating the skin of his arms and the blood came out of the wound, and another piece of his soul ripped out from him.

“Please… Please… stop it… God, it hurts !!”

He said while he was still crying. He felt the wolfs all around him, he could feel their hunger and he was scared to death of them. He wanted them to go away, to leave him be or he wanted to simply dying.   
Taking him back home in that state hadn’t been simply for Lexi and Eri and Freya.  
At the beginning Freya was reluctant of going home with them, since she wanted to go to her family and fight at their side, since Tyallah was going there and she didn’t trust her.   
Lexi, to prevent Eri to use her kitsune powers on the witch and aggravating the situation further, calmly explained her that she would have been safer with them, since Tyallah could have tried to kidnap her and take her out of the city.   
Until Freya would have remained in the city’s boundaries she was safe because officially New Orleans was still Stefan’s hunt territory. Tyallah didn’t look like someone who respected deals with enemies, anyway. She could use her powers on Freya, take her out of New Orleans and killed her and no one could have stopped her from doing it.   
Lexi didn’t necessarily lie, it was a possibility.

Stefan was delusional, he moved both his arms and legs at random, he tried to punch and hit the wolfs around him and Lexi had to struggle a lot to make him stay still.  
Now he was laying on his bed, Eri sat at his side, taking his hand and she was absorbing his pain, trying to make him feel better.

_“There are no words to explain how much proud I am, Stefan”_

Why was Cade proud of him ? Oh, yes, because he finally had given up on safety. Because he had killed Klaus.  
He killed Klaus, didn’t he ? Was that world real ? Was that nightmare still hunting him ?   
No… no it couldn’t have been a nightmare, it was real, the pain was real, the wolfs were real. Their hunger was real. They were still biting him.

“Please… please… It hurts…”

“Eri, what’s happening ?”

“I have the sensation that he can’t recognize the difference between reality and fantasy. I should have acted faster. When I saved him from Tyallah, he was too close at the point of not return. I saved him for a miracle. The dream is over but the effects are still tormenting him”

“I can’t see him like this. What if I brake his neck ? Maybe the death is the only escape from the effect of that dream”

“What if it makes the effects stronger instead ?” asked Freya

“It’s a risk we have to take at this point. What if the effects never go away ? Whatever visions he has are devouring his mind. He’s going crazy. If I kill him, I’ll put an end on them. Then he’ll come back to us”

Eri bitted her bottom lip. She didn’t like that idea, not matter how sense it could have in a moment like that. She feared that if her otōsan died in that moment, he could have ended up where he was before. In that nightmare.  
Eri didn’t know if Tyallah had just created an illusion or another dimension that was still existing in Stefan’s mind and that was waiting for him to return. If Stefan spent another minute in that, who knew if he wouldn’t lose his mind ?   
On the there hand, she could have absorbed his pain for another centuries but she knew that the problem wasn’t physical but mental and it was created by a source that couldn’t be defeated by her powers. Aware of her limited choices she repressed a growl of frustration.  
Freya had already tried to use all the spells she knew to help him but they all failed. Probably because she hadn’t figure out the exact problem herself yet. If she only thought that she could have been at Stefan’s place, delusional, desperate, fighting against a fantasy, an illusion. A macabre version of Don Quixote against the windmills. She hoped she would never found herself in that kind of situation.   
One thing was the physical pain, an open wound, a scratch, a punch in the face, another was your mind who worked against you.

“Okay… kill him. I would have never thought that I would say it but I hope he will go in Hell and then come back alive. I don’t want him to come back inside the dream”

“Don’t even I”

_“Bastard… Assassin… Murderer…”_

The voice didn’t let him go and the more they shouted the more attracted the wolfs toward him. The beasts weren’t having any mercy of his lacerated body. Bite after bite they were devouring all his body. The blood started to become sticky and cold on some part, where the bones were uncovered, instead he was still bleeding from the lacerated abdomen. One wolf bitted him at the height of his chest and tore off his skin with his teeth, letting uncovered his heart. He could see his read heart beating faster for the fear and unfortunately the wolfs could see it too. The people around him were still screaming and more wolfs were coming toward him and were attracted by his blood.

“No… No… They are so hungry… Stop shouting !! Stop shouting !”

“Lexi do it already” Eri begged with tears in her eyes.

The blond vampire didn’t hesitate, she grabbed Stefan from his shoulders, then she quickly broke his neck.   
The younger vampire fell lifeless on the bed, the cheeks still wet for the tears, but he wasn’t shouting or crying.

“Now we have only pray God for him to be okay” said Eri.

“I don’t think so. We should go and check it out on Tyallah. I don’t trust her. Look, I understand Eri that you would prefer stay here with Stefan but we can’t let that woman on her own. She’s too dangerous” Lexi suggested, trembling on the idea of what Tyallah could have done without an appropriate supervision.

“We can’t even let her alone here with my otōsan, without protection” said Eri.

“Stefan will come back alive eventually. He will protect her, but now we have to protect everybody else.” said Lexi.

“Honestly I think I’m capable enough to take care of myself. I will be fine. Tyallah can’t kill me because she has lost, on the other hand, Alistair does hate my brother and swore to destroy his family included me. I can handle normal vampires but two Hunters not.”

“Okay, you stay here. We’ll go to check on the situation. Be fine” recommended Lexi before opening the window and jumping downside.

“Risking” said Freya looking at the window.

“Not for her.” said Eri, then she looked at her otōsan with deep love and kissed him on the cheeks “Can I have a moment with him ?”

Freya nodded then she left the room leaving daughter and father alone. Eri looked at her father with deep affection, then she gently grabbed his hand. It was cold, lifeless, but she didn’t mind. Her otōsan was always cold.

“I’m sorry otōsan. I should have done better, I shouldn’t have failed you. You’ve never failed to protect me, now it was my turn and you got hurt. I’m sorry you’re suffering. I’m really sorry”

She caressed her father’s hair and let some tear falling alone her cheeks. She was older than she looked but she still felt like a child sometimes and seeing the most important man of her life in those conditions broke her heart. Her father didn’t deserve to suffer like that. He wasn’t in that kind of situation by choice, but because of that ingrate of his older brother.  
Eri had never met the older Salvatore but she already hated him and she wandered how things could have turned out different if Damon hadn’t abandoned her otōsan.   
If her otōsan had born in a different family with parents more loving and kinder with him. Her otōsan deserved better. She would have to do better.   
They were father and daughter, but they had been partners for longer time. Partners for life. friends, family. They promised it to each other.

“Jinsei no pātonā, chichi. Sore o oboete. I love you. I’ll come back very soon” (Partners for life, father. Remember it).

Then Eri followed Lexi jumping out of the window. Freya was in the living room and now that she sat on it she realized how exhausted she really was. There was a blanket away from her, she took it and leaned over it when she lay on the couch.   
She needed to sleep. It was risking, since she would let all her guards down, but she felt too tired to keep her eyes open. She was supposed to go with Eri and Lexi and see by herself if her family was okay but it could have been too dangerous. Normally she would have been too stubborn to simply accept to stay away from her family and doing nothing, but she had too sense in her mind that stop her from doing something stupid that could make situation worse.   
Hoping that all her siblings were okay, she closed her eyes and fell asleep.

...

_Why did the pain disappear so sudden ? What did happen to him ? Why weren’t the wolf eating him alive anymore ?_   
_The people stopped screaming too and he could feel that there were no one around him. He was alone, he was in peace. His body didn’t hurt, there were no wounds, or marks. He was completely healed, or maybe he had never got hurt at all. Maybe the wolfs weren’t real, he hoped they weren’t and nevertheless he would remember the pain as it was real. Because for him it was real, the wolfs were real, what he had seen in the other world was real._   
_Well, he guessed that he could wait for explanations and that it wasn’t the time for brooding over what was real to him and was was not. He had more important matter on he had to think about,_   
_First, where was he now ? Second, how could he ended up here ? Thirdly, was he really alone ?_

_“You’ve always been an hard worker, my dear boy. Even after your dead, you’re ready to come back on the game. It’s admirable”_

_Stefan faster opened his eyes and he sat down. Only now he realized where he was._  
  
_“I’m in Hell”_

_And no somewhere at random, he was in the bedroom of the Devil himself. He was setting on his bed._   
_It was the largest and most elegant bed Stefan ever seen. The sheets were soft, delicate when you touched them and they were dark red and so the pillows. The room was big, with a large balcony on the right side but it was too dark outside to be able to see something and nevertheless Stefan high doubted that he could find a good view in Hell. The furnitures were all black or in dark red and there were various macabre paintings of people burned at stakes, with their head cut off, or of the creatures who lived in Hell. Stefan didn’t have the courage of seeing what kind of paintings there could be along the entire ceiling._

_“Haven’t you been a ghastly little pest eh ? Pushing me to oblige one of my best Hunters to hunt down a false target to get you here with me”_

_“What are you talking about ? Are you saying that you have ordered Tyallah to kill Freya only to spend some minute with me ? It doesn’t have any sense. You’re the Devil, I’m an Hunter, I’m yours to command.”_

_“You’re right. I order, you obey. And nevertheless you’re not completely right. I ordered Tyallah to kill Freya because she was the only one, other than me, that could show you the truth about yourself. What you have seen, what she has shown to you, was real. It’s real”_

_“No… It can’t be… I can’t… I couldn’t have…”_

_No, that nightmare couldn’t be real. He couldn’t actually have done all those terrible things. He couldn’t have given up on himself._   
_He wasn’t so weak to embrace his inner darkness even thought the fear was eating him alive day after day. Second after second._   
_Eri… Lexi… Klaus… he couldn’t have disappointed all of them. He couldn’t have been so selfish. That other world wasn’t real, it wasn’t a part of who he was, of what he wanted. Why would he want to live in a world full of darkness ? At the mercy of the cruelest man he had ever met._

_“I didn’t mean that it was real in the way you think.”_

_“How can I trust you ? You want me. You swore that I will be yours.”_

_“I don’t expect you to trust me. I don’t trust anyone myself and my bad reputation prevents anyone to trust me and nevertheless everyone are tempted, at least once in their life, to have a deal with me.”_

_“But didn’t make me live that… reality to have a deal with me. You wanted me to understand how advantageous would be for me to accept my dark side”_

_“I wanted you to know that there are people who can love you for who you really are, rather than who you could be”_

_“And who I am Cade ? Do you know it ? How could you be sos rude that what Tyallah has showed me was real and not a sick birth of her madness ? I used to have a certain perception of myself, not it’s completely destroyed and I don’t know what to do”_

_Stefan almost hoped that Cade could give him some answers, because he really needed. He needed someone who could give him some certainties, someone who told him that something was black and that something else was white for sure. He needed someone who knew what he was supposed to do._   
_He really needed and the Devil knew and he could take advantage of his desperation._   
_Cade was looking at him with a neutral expression on his face, but then the Devil smiled and Stefan knew that it was the right moment to be afraid. Cade was normally an heartless cold man, excellent at concealing his emotions and feelings and yet skilled when it came to pretend to be human._   
_Stefan was convinced that Cade hadn’t been human for so long time that he forgot how to act like ones._   
_Cade had a typical smile when he felt like he was at one step from winning an important game and Stefan feared what could be the prize._

_“My dear boy…” Cade sat next to Stefan, avoiding to touch him “… I’m sincerely relief that you’ve finally changed your opinion about yourself. You have been waisting your potential for too much time, always trying to do what the other wanted you to do, always being the good obedient guy. I don’t want this. You are a rebel, a troublemaker and I totally love it”_

_Cade touched his hair, where he was allowed to and sincerely Stefan didn’t have the strength to put off that hand._   
_He didn’t know if he wanted to be comfort or not, like a child that had a bad day at school and wanted some affection from his daddy for feeling better._   
_Stefan didn’t have a bad day, he had been trying to understand himself better for his whole life. Sometimes he thought that what was the best for himself didn’t fit for what was best for the people he loved. He didn’t even know what was best for him anymore. He couldn’t think clearly._

_“I don’t know what to do and you’re just playing with my mind. You put the wolfs against me. You were watching while they were eating me out alive”_

_“You could have fight them. You had the strength. You let them devour you as you let your sense of guilty doing the same thing. Stop punishing yourself and embrace your true self. The one who can take you to the grandeur. Be sincere with me and tell me that you didn’t like, not even a little bit, what Tyallah has shown to you”_

_Stefan opened his mouth to answer that not. He didn’t like anything of what he had seen, that it wasn’t him. That it wasn’t what he wanted for himself. That he couldn’t desire something like that._   
_Why did it sound more like a lie ? Why didn’t he put the Devil’s hand away ?_   
_Cade’s touch was confusing him as always. Despite what he felt for Klaus, Cade had still a certain effect on him or his body wouldn’t come closer to be touched deeper by the Devil._

_“I’m power-hungry and yet and I’m submitting my body to your touch” said Stefan thinking again about the nightmare._

_“You’re not submitting, you nasty boy. You are power hungry. You know that I want your soul, your heart, your devotion and yet you’re here, letting me touching you as a consolation prize while you’re saying that you’ll never be mine. You have a power over him too and you don’t hesitate to use it.”_

_“I’m not doing this. I’m not one of that people who show candies only to eat them all myself in from of the other who wanted them too. I’m just trying to protect myself.” said Stefan._

_“By hurting other people. I don’t blame you, my dear boy. It’s always a good thing have care of own business.”_

_Stefan didn’t know of what he was caring about the most at the moment. His opinion about himself ? His soul ? His dignity ? Himself._   
_Was he power hungry ? It it meant being able to control and teasing the Devil then it was a good thing. Stefan had always enjoyed being able to submit dominating personalities using nothing more than his behave and his ideals._   
_His own ideals put a lot of limits to himself and somehow to the things he allowed other do to him. He was power hungry because he liked when people obeyed his will, because he liked the he always won when it come to a fight, not only a physical fight._   
_Almost instinctively he gently grabbed Cade face with his both bare hands, without any gloves that created any barrier._   
_He remained surprise by the softness of the Devil’s skin, but he should have expected that the most dangerous things were always so appealing or they wouldn’t tempt anyone. If someone asked, Stefan wouldn’t know how explained his sudden need for a connection with the Devil. Maybe because it was fair somehow. Stefan didn’t want to have any power over Cade, he didn’t want to have any power over anyone. It didn’t have any sense having relationship with people if you needed to hold some kind of power over them. Stefan was more for equality. If Stefan touched Cade without allowing him to touch him back was fair because both of them gained what they wanted. A connection, someone to feel less alone._   
_Stefan did it anyway, but he didn’t need to see the Devil’s eyes to understand that they were both devouring by the same illness, the loneliness._   
_That was another thing that the nightmare showed to him, his sufferance for his loneliness._   
_Stefan had lived a life of lies, always trying to be the good boy, always hiding his inner deeper thought, Always feared to say the wrong thing and disappoint his father. Stefan had always had to pretend to have even the slightest interest toward women when inside he was aching for the touch of a man. Stefan wasn’t put into a cage, he was the one who inflicted himself all those rules, because acceptance and conformity were necessary to survive._   
_He had never lived. Pretend wasn’t live, lying wasn’t live, hiding himself wasn’t live._   
_Loneliness was his best friend._   
_It was the same for Cade. He couldn’t tell anyone how much different he really was, that he wasn’t born to be mundane like the other. That God had given him the honor of being special. Other people would have killed him before and they did in the end. Cade was alone. Like him._

_“Why codependency ?” asked Stefan._

_“Why asking when you already have a theory”_

_“You oblige us Hunters to stay separated, to live our existence in solitude. I think I’ve guessed why. If we have nothing else to hold on but you, there are more possibilities that we become dependent to you.”_

_“What does make you say this ?” asked Cade sincerely curious._

_“Because I finally realized that after having spent all this decades alone, you’re the only one who has never really left me. I mean, I can feel your presence. Even when you don’t talk to me, I know you’re watching over me. I feel scared for this”_

_“Why ? Are you so scared of admitting that you, deep inside, care somehow for me ?”_

_“I’m scared of being hurt. I keep distance from people because is the best thing to do. I don’t want to be the next Sybil or Henry”_

_“Please, don’t stop, explain further”_

_“Sybil and Henry have done a dangerous think. They got attached to a snake, they fell in love with it. I’m scare of doing the same dangerous thing. You fall in love with it and you don’t realized when it starts to take measures to eat you alive. I don’t want to be the next meal.”_

_Snakes devoured their victims cruelly, with just one bite, somehow it was good because you didn’t suffer too much, but it didn’t change the fact that he killed you, devoured you and left nothing. Not even a body to be buried, not even your ashes to be spread in the wing. Nothing._

_“Do you think with Klaus would be different ?” asked Cade clearly irritating._

_Did you think he would help you with your trust issues ?_   
_Did you think he would love you enough to make you feel desirable ?_   
_Did you think he would be capable of giving what you really want ?_   
_These and other questions Stefan could read inside Cade’s eyes, but despite he knew all the answers he wasn’t ready to give them to Cade._

_“Loneliness pushes you to do crazy thing. Don’t try to read too much in my actions in this moment. I just want to feel less alone”_

_“Fair. Although I would keep you here forever, You need to wake up. Maybe you’re not ready yet to accept that you have feelings for me or that you already are too much close to me as Henry and Sybil, but at least now you know. You know it”_

_Stefan smiled, with kindness, as he had never smiled to Cade before. In the end it looked like he had a foot in the cage already and he wasn’t scared. He should know better than letting Cade see a part of his soul but it wasn’t like Stefan could hide it anyway._   
_Cade had always known that that exactly moment would have happen sooner or later._   
_Monsters were lonely in their solitude, but they found solace in the few moments they shared together. Stefan knew that Cade was right, that he needed to wake up, that he had to come back to his musume. That his job wasn’t over yet._


	28. The Exorcism

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The battle has come to an end. All the best moves have been made and the best cards have been played. Now to save New Orleans and Mikaelson Family, Eri and Stefan can do nothing else but make a deal with Alistair Duquesne, that include the Exorcism of Sofya. Are they going to save her ? Or is she going to lose her soul forever ?

**CHAPTER 28**

  
Klaus didn’t expect to find that kind of situation when he arrived but he had to admit that he felt relief somehow. When he arrived in front of the building where Stefan’s apartment was, he noticed the window of the vampire’s bedroom opened and Klaus feared the worst. So he entered in the bedroom and he saw Stefan dead on the bed.

“Stefan !” he shouted and he came closer to Stefan.

He grabbed the face of the brunette and looked him closer but he also noticed that the veins were slowly vanishing from his face.   
He was coming back, he was coming back to him. Almost instinctively Klaus kissed him forehead and then on the cold lips. Maybe he shouldn’t be so glad of seeing him, since he had no idea if his older sister was safe or not, but seeing Stefan in those conditions was disturbing to Klaus.

“What happen to you ? Where are the other ?” whispered Klaus holding Stefan’s body in his arms.

“Eri and Lexi went to take an eye on the Huntress, the woman that maybe you have just met”

Klaus jumped when he heard Freya’s voice. When he looked up and he saw his beloved sister in from of him he felt like he could die for happiness. He stood up from the bed and ran toward his sister to hold her tight in his arms. He had truly feared she was dead and now it was a relief seeing that she was okay, that Stefan hadn’t failed him.

“I thought I have lost you” said Klaus with years in his eyes.

“They all protected me. Eri above all. I don’t know what Tyallah had shown to him but it drove him crazy.”

“Crazy ? So did he lose ? Do you have to leave town ?” asked Klaus alarmed.

“No. He had won, thanks to his daughter. The last thing I can do is leaving town. Until I remain here, in New Orleans, in Stefan hunt’s territory I will be safe because Tyallah won’t be able to kill him. If I leave New Orleans, there won’t be any place safe enough to protect me from her. It will be like…”

“Like me and Mikael. I know. I’ve spent almost my entire life running away, being paranoid, living in fear. I don’t think I would have survived without Bekah and Elijah”

“Yeah, but now I feel New Orleans more like a prison than a home. I don’t like being someone’s target. It’s awful”

Klaus didn’t answer. There was nothing he could say to make look the situations more tolerating. He had lived a situation like that himself and there was nothing worst than living into a constant living nightmare, living in the fear that someone wanted you dead, that someone existed only to put a dagger inside your chest.   
He looked at Stefan and he wondered if he felt the same thing, probably yes, probably even worst. Stefan had constantly the Devil behind his back. He gently caressed Stefan’s hair, surprised from how soft they were.   
The veins on his face were always clearer, which meant that that he was more and more close to come back alive. Good. Klaus had a lot of questions to make to him and he wanted answers.

“Yu know… I would have never said that you could be attracted by men. According to our siblings, you have never found any interest in boys”

“It’s true. Well, I have to say that after all this time I stopped to put limits of any kind. I pick what I like, the gender doesn’t matter anymore. And what they have told you is not completely true. I had various male lovers, few in comparison with women and nevertheless I have.”

“Yeah, I’ve heard Kol talking about a threesome once but I wasn’t willing to listen all details.”

“It’s not a story worthy of being listened, believe me”

Freya stayed quite but then she had another question “Why him ? What does it make him so special for you ?”

“I have no idea if I’m sincere. When I saw him the first time I hated him. I hated the him for the power he had, for being able of humiliating Marcel twice, because he had been capable of maintaining a gentle hurt design being alone for too much time. But it’s not only thins”

“What else ?”

“I’ve had the sensation that he was hiding something from me since the first time we met. I recognized a sort of darkness inside. A darkness that he fights day after day for the love of his daughter and I admire him for this.”

“You see yourself in him”

Klaus nodded. Stefan and he were a lot of similar, even if Stefan’s past had been worst that his.   
Klaus had spent thousand years running away from his father who was determinate to end his life, but he also lived as a King, a Leader, a Legend. Everyone feared him, everyone got on his knees when they were in his presence.  
Stefan instead lived in the fear, he wasn’t free of doing or being whatever he wanted because Devil imposed him determinate rules. He was a slave, a marionette, a subordinate. Devil abused and used him merciless, as a puppet, taking advantage of his solitude and the love for his brother.

“Where are Eri and Miss Benson ?”

Freya was going to answer when suddenly there was a knock on the door. Klaus jumped from the bed and looked at Freya who was looking at him with worry.

“Were they waiting for someone ?” asked Klaus.

“I’ve no idea.” said Freya.

Klaus was going to say that he was going to open the door himself when suddenly he heard the sound of a bunch of keys and then the door got opened.   
They have to be Lexi and Eri, they could be the only two people who opened the door with a key.

“I thought she would open” he heard a female voice.

Both Klaus and Freya relaxed when they recognized the voice, it was Eri.

“Maybe she got scared”

That instead was Lexi.

“I hope otōsan is okay. He’s the only one who can find a solution for this problem” said Eri.

“I hope that you’re right. I wouldn’t appreciate to know that I have wasted my time for nothing” said a male voice.

Freya and Klaus exchanged a look. They both knew who had just talked. Less than a second and Klaus ran in the living room to see Eri and Lexi with Alistair, Sofya and Tyallah. What the fuck were they doing there ? Why did Lexi and Eri take them in that house ?

“What are they doing here ?” asked Klaus with aggressività.

“Not to kill you. If this is what you’re worrying about. My otōsan has defeated Tyallah, who defeated Alistair so you have nothing to worry about. Nevertheless we can’t allow them to leave the town, not yet” explained Eri who surpassed Klaus without even giving him look.

She had not time to waste with Klaus’ childish behave. She wanted to see her otōsan, she wanted to be sure that he was okay, that she had nothing to worry about anymore. Also, she needed his help, Alistair and Sofya needed his help. They had a deal after all. Specially after what had happened…

…

_Tyallah was so close, she could feel, she was so close to the victory and this time she would win. She didn’t think she would put it up with another defeat. Her opponent was strong, faster than her and she had a great difficult to follow his movements constantly, in fact she managed to hit him only when he hit her, when he touched her with hands, bows or other parts of his body. She had few time to grabbed him somehow and hit him where she could. He was also smart. He carefully avoided to look her in the eyes when he was too close to her, which meant that it wasn’t going to be easy to use her power on him._   
_Fast as a lightning, Alistair grabbed her by her throat, but Tyallah managed to grabbed his arms with her legs and trying to use all the agility she had, she made them fall on the floor._   
_The point was that Alistair was faster but they were equally strong. Also she was more athletic than him._

_“Tell me when you got tired of this dance, lady” said Alistair standing up._

_“Tired ? We’re not even close to the first pirouette. My dear”_

_Tyallah evoked her fire then she used like a sort of a wimp and tried to attack the blond vampire. Alistair didn’t move quick enough to avoid the first attack that burn him slightly on the right shoulder with all the clothes but he had been fast enough to avoid all the others._   
_She was skilled and strong, but Alistair was furious. He had never been so close to defeat Klaus once and for all, everything he had to do was defeating the Hunter of New Orleans and conquer this hunt territory. Instead there he was, fighting against an Huntress who looked ready to burn him alive and reduce in ashes all his possibilities to send the hybrid right in Hell and with him all his damn family, included his daughter._   
_People maybe despised him for this, but he had his reasons. Klaus had killed his daughter, his beautiful princess, in front of his eyes, Why should he have pity for Klaus’ bastard ?_   
_Why shouldn’t he rip her little sick body in two ? Why shouldn’t he compel Klaus to drain her ? Torture his own daughter ? Blood of his dirty blood ?_

_“Is this what you wish ?”_

_Tyallah kissed him in the face then she grabbed his face “Let me show you what you really want”_

_Alistair hit her in the face, but it was too late. Alistair was a man in love, but it didn’t mean that he didn’t have dreams or ambitions the he wanted to come true. One of them was right in front of his eye._   
_Alistair blinked twice because he couldn’t believe on what he was seeing in front of his eyes._   
_Klaus was on his knees, his clothes were dirty and worn-out and there were various cuts and bruises on his face and his lower lip was broken. In front of him there was another Alistair Duquesne, with clothes dirty of blood, who was helming by the troth the little daughter of Klaus._   
_Klaus was begging him, whispering actually, to let his daughter go, to spare her life, that she was innocent, that it didn’t have to end this way._

_“Did you have any mercy ? Did you have any hesitation when you killed my daughter ?”_

_“I’m sorry… I didn’t understand paternal love, I didn’t understand a lot of things. Now I do and I’m sorry. I was a coward or I wouldn’t have done what I’ve done, but now… if you really believe that you’re better than me…”_

_“Oh stay quite !” ordered Alistair punching Klaus’ in the face “I don’t need to prove you anything. I don’t want you to believe that I’m better than you. Everything I want is making you understand what I’ve felt when you killed my daughter.”_

_Klaus was going to talk again but Alistair moved to fast and he killed Hope, in the same way Klaus had killed his little princess, by drinking all her blood, trading her as nothing more than a piece of meat. Hope tried to beg for her father for help, she tried to stop the Hunter with her powers but the more she fought the more she died. Alistair’s grip on her heir was painful and was the sensation of his fangs inside her little neck that were draining her._

_“I love you daddy”_

_That were the last words she had the strength to say before her dead body fell on the ground._   
_Klaus’ scream of pain, a loud cry, a screaming worthy of an alpha wolf who had just list the most valiant member go his pack. Alistair was ready, so fucking ready to kill him after all those centuries of agony and hatred to kill his worst enemy once and for all but suddenly he heard a childish voice behind his back and he knew who had just talked to him._

_“Dad… Is it you ?”_

_Alistair, the real Alistair, was still looking at the scene, frantic, stunned, slightly happy. How long hadn’t he seen his little princess ?_   
_With her beautiful curly blond hair, the light pink dress that she was wearing the last time he had seen her. He remember it. He had given her that dress for her birthday. Alistair considered his little girl a princess and he wanted her to feel like one. But why didn’t she recognize him ? How could she not recognize her father ?_

_“Dad… you’re not my dad !! My dad is angel you… you are…”_

_“Little princess, of course it’s me. I’m your daddy”_

_The false Alistair tried to come closer to his little girl but his daughter looked really terrified by him and suddenly she bursted out in tears._

_“No… No… you’re not my daddy. I don’t know you. What have you done to my daddy ?”_

_‘Princess, I am your daddy !!’ that was what the true Alistair wanted to scream to his little girl but his daughter was deaf at his screams and his begs. The more she looked at him the less she seemed to recognized him, as he was nothing more than one of the monsters under the bed she felt the need to be protected from. What could Alistair tell to her at that point ? When he had just killed a little girl and he was on the point of killing her father too._   
_How could not his little girl think he was a monster ? He looked at his little girl ands in the eyes what he had truly become and suddenly there weren’t anymore two Alistair, only one who was was being judged by his little girl._

_“You’re not my father… he’s a good man. You’re not my father. You scare me.”_

_Then she ran away, from him, from the father she couldn’t recognize. Alistair tried to scream, beg for her to come back, but he couldn’t scream, he couldn’t shout, he couldn’t move to follow her. He could just look her walking away from him and cry. He didn’t ant to see anything else, he wanted that nightmare to finish, he wanted his daughter back, he wanted to go away._

_“Stop it… Stop it…”_

_People around him couldn’t see what he was seeing, they would have thought he was crazy because he was screaming at the emptiness. All his vampires went away, except for one._   
_Sofya was an excellent fighter, skilled with weapons, athletic and intelligent, sometimes too much for her own good and she could recognize a dangerous situation when she saw one and that was definitely the case._   
_Nevertheless it was different._   
_Her heart had hardened through the years, due to the loss of her family and her desire for revenge, but Alistair was another pair of hands, completely. He was her… boyfriend ? Could she use such a term at her age ? She guessed so, specially because she didn’t have a better definition._   
_Suddenly she felt an amount of rage and fury growing inside her chest so strong that it hurt. She knew what was coming and for once she didn’t try to stop. Alistair was in danger and she was going to help him._   
_Her hazel eyes turned into a cold bright gold, her face got paler and her body began to shiver completely._   
_Suddenly a dark force went out from her, a sort of black fog that surrounded all the area around her._   
_Tyallah was impressed by her powers, so much that she nullified all the effect of her spell on Alistair, who got free of his illusions._

_“Sofya...”_

_Sofya couldn’t listen him. The entity inside her prevented him from hearing anyone around her. Sofya was completely dominated by those terrible powers that were making the ground trembling. The sky darkened, as it was night and not afternoon anymore._   
_Suddenly her body shape started to disappear and then reappear so fast that it was almost impossible see it. Alistair knew what was coming and he didn’t want to, Sofya was going to hurt herself if he didn’t stop her._

_“Sofya… Sofya please stop…”_

_He tried to come closer to her but Sofya raised one arm and created a barrier that prevented anyone and everything to come closer to her._   
_A growl broke the silence, a grow than turned into a scream before coming back to a growl._   
_Alistair chose to use Verbis Diablo. He didn’t know for sure whether if was fighting a Nogistune or not, but Verbis Diablo always worked._

_“Etsi nüllaan an oge en Kailfernum troovea eksdamnaskek” (I banish you now to the pit of Hell)._

_Usually that sort of spell worked at the first attempt but apparently this time the entity had gained more strength somehow. Alistair had no idea how the thing inside Sofya feed itself to gain power._   
_The gouger under their feet trembled violently and it made both Alistair and Tyallah fell._

_“Your girlfriend is full of resources. It’s a shame she doesn’t know how to use them properly. An hand ?”_

_“Although I would love to tell you to go Hell, I actually need your help now. It’s stronger than the other time”_

_“Verbis Diablo ?”_

_“What else ?”_

_They tried to stand up again but then another violent shake made them fall on the ground again. Suddenly the barrier around Sofya expanded and hit them, pushing them on the ground again. Black and dark violet veins began to appear all over Sofya’s body, as a web and the black fog around her wrapped Alistair and Tyallah who could barely see anything through it and who began to feel weak. It was clear to both of them that there was no more time to waste so they both used Verbis Diablo._

_“Itsi redreyii en kailfernum igiirtekh. Itsi hun eukfaah sromanaht mendafa’. Itsi eukseepowaa’ maa’. Ullag nehosellu, kosta atsüü. Emi nebratronak nüllaan yak mateyii. Maa’ (Return to the fires of Hell. Starve and die. Rot and die. Unholy demon, evil woman. I am your master now and always. Die)._

_This time, with a more powerful spell and with the help of another Hunter, the veins over Sofya’s body disappeared, the black fog was reabsorbed and the ground started to tremble._   
_Sofya’s eyes became hazel again and her skin acquired a rosy color again._

_“Alistair…”_

_It was the only thing she could say before fainting. Alistair took her in her arms two seconds before her body touched the ground._   
_He hated seeing her like that and he really wished to do something to help her but he didn’t know how. He had absolutely no idea._

_“She was desperate, brother. She wanted revenge and she became a vampire she thought to be strong enough to kill Klaus and she underestimated the danger. She survived for a miracle”_

_“So what ?” asked Alistair._

_He knew from the curiosity and the surprise in Tyallah’s eyes that he had just made a mistake. Every Hunter was supposed to know all sins of people around him, if Alistair had asked to know more about Sofya’s past, it meant that he couldn’t know all her sins, maybe no one of them even._

_“So she met a witch, a powerful one for help. The witch took advantage of her. Apparently she was and old hysterical bitch who didn’t put it up well with threats and who had a daughter possessed by a spirit.”_

_“Let me guess, she used Sofya as new shell for the spirit to save her daughter”_

_“Exactly. Unfortunately her daughter was too weak, the spirit had almost absorbed all her energy and she died. Her mother instead was killed by Sofya after she learnt the trick but there was nothing to do anymore”_

_Alistair closed his eyes, trying not to cry like a teenager in front of his ‘sister’ but what she had just said it was making him feel sad and desperate. What if Sofya died if and after he would get her free from the spirit inside her ? It wouldn’t be fair. At all. Not before she could have the chance of being saved, for real, from Hell. Not before they could have began a new life together, not before he could propose her, he could find the courage of leaving is past behind and enjoy his present with her. He had been so selfish all those years, instead of saving her he used her, used her hatred toward Klaus to make her his partner in crime, the best weapon of his arsenal. He had failed her and he realized it only now._

_“You’re wrong.”_

_A childish female voice made him jump and when he turned around he saw a little girl, with ginger hair, who was wearing a red skirt with black coat and boots._   
_At her side there was a blonde vampire, who was taking her by the hand. Probably a sort of caretaker. Alistair expression grow softer when he saw Eri. Somehow she remembered him his little princess, actually he saw his little princess in any little girls he saw. Probably it was the reason why when in the vision he had killed Hope, he had done from behind, trying to avoid to look her in the eyes._   
_Eri came closer to them, without any fear or hesitation in her eyes and she looked him in the eyes without avoiding it for even a second._

_“There’s a way to save her and get her free from the spirit inside him. You’ll need my otōsan’s help and only at one condition”._

…

Eri hoped she wasn’t going to regret it but it was the only chance she had. Tyallah couldn’t kill Freya, so she wasn’t going to leave the city soon. Alistair wanted to kill Klaus but he couldn’t get the weapon without defeating Stefan. Nevertheless defeating her otōsan wouldn’t be the his priority if he wasn’t sure that he could save Sofya somehow.   
Eri was surprised by the easiness with which Alistair accepted her proposal. Maybe love was really stronger than anything else, even more than hatred. Eri really couldn’t say, bad habits died hard she learnt it from her otōsan, who kept struggling against his own darkness, not matter how deep he loved her. His darkness was still inside him and sometime it took over Stefan without he could do anything to stop it. Sometimes he just needed to kill someone or destroy something else and Eri could just sit and stare. She wasn’t afraid of him, just sad. Sad because she knew that her otōsan didn’t mean to behave like that, specially not in front of her.

“How is my otōsan ? Is he awake ?” she asked to Freya.

“Not yet. Why ?” asked Freya.

“We need his help. As soon as he will come back alive, he, Alistair and Tyallah will have to use their power to do a sort of… exorcism” answered Eri going to her otōsan’s bedroom to see with her eyes that he was okay.

Eri had the same Stefan’s fault, she couldn’t trust people. She needed proofs. When she arrived at her otōsan’s bedroom she saw that the veins all over his faces were almost completely disappear, which meant that he was going to wake up really soon. Eri sat on the bed next to him and kissed him on the cheek. He was utterly beautiful.   
Not only physically, but he was really the best things that had ever happened in her life. Thanks to him she had learnt what meant to be part of a family, to have someone who cared about you and who protected you.   
She heard footstep of someone who was coming in the bedroom and she rolled her eyes.

“What do you want ?” asked Eri.

“Explanations, Ripper junior. What the hell are those two hunters doing here ?”

“The girl, the blond vampire, is possessed by an entity. I proposed a deal to Alistair. If we save the girl, he’s going to leave New Orleans and give up on his intention of revenge toward you. Satisfied ?”

“Of course not. Alistair has been seeking for revenge against me since his transformation and…”

“And it was your fault. I’m trying to make up for your mistake. You don’t know Alistair so well as you think to believe.”

“You only talk like this because your father is an Hunter. You feel save and I don’t have this luck, Hope doesn’t have this luck !” shouted the hybrid pointing a finger.

Eri looked at him unimpressed. If Klaus thought that shouting at her was enough to scare he was totally wrong. She had to constantly face the Hell with her otōsan and if Cade wasn’t enough to scare her no one would. She calmly stood up from the bed, than fast as she could, she evoked her Kyuubi and scratched Klaus in the face.

“Listen me up, hybrid. I don’t like you, you prick. I like the idea of you and my otōsan together even less, but you’re important to him and I want his happiness. Alistair wants to be happy too and he agreed on stopping to hunt you down. You should be grateful that no all people are selfish as you are”

“Watch your mouth, little fox. Have you been older and now you would have found on the floor with the squirrel jagged”

Eri was going to attack him again but she felt a firm grip on the arm who made her jump. She turned toward her otōsan. He was awake, not strong enough to sit down on the bed, but strong enough to keep his eyes open and hold her arm. He was smiling to her. Eri hugged him while Klaus passed an hand through his hair.   
Stefan chose the wrong moment to wake up. Klaus was sure the young vampire had heard him threatening his daughter.

“Squirrel jagged ? Really ? Cade threatened me to shatter her soul as I shatter bodies and she laughed at him. You can’t scare her” said Stefan with an harsh tone of voice.

It was clear that Stefan wasn’t glad, at all and if he could snap Klaus’ neck in that moment he would have done. No one had to dare to hurt his musume, his little fox, not even his soul to save, specially not after a conversation with Cade about the dangerous person he really was. Because he was dangerous, really dangerous and he had never been so close to accept this hard truth. Nevertheless deep, behind his anger he was also glad and relief that the blond was okay and that nothing bad happen to him since he wasn’t there to protect him from two Sinners Hunters, one of them particularly determinate to put an end on his life.   
In the same way Klaus was happy to see that the toddler was fine, even if he was furious, terribly furious for how all the situations had turned out. The blond didn’t want to have anything to do with Alistair Duquesne, not after everything happen between them. Well, they would talk about it eventually.

“May you update me ? Little fox ?” asked Stefan caressing her hair.

Eri told him everything. She told him about her deal with Tyallah, then her deal with Alistair and what she had found out about Sofya.

“Sofya is possessed by an Hollow. An Hollow is the spirit of the daughter or the son of a demon with a human. Due to their hybrid nature, they live a human life and after their death they become evil spirits who have to possess humans’ bodies to remain on this earth and keep living”

“Why didn’t Alistair get Sofya free of that thing if she is his… someone ?” asked Stefan.

“He was convinced she was possessed by a Nogitsune, but I recognized what I saw. She did the same actions of the last possessed we had seen”

“So this isn’t your first case ?” asked Klaus who spoke for the first time since Stefan had woken up.

“No” answered Stefan standing up from his bed.

That ‘no’ meant a lot of thing.  
No, it wasn’t their first case.  
No, it wasn’t something they couldn’t handle.   
No, they weren’t going to talk about it.  
No, Stefan wasn’t going to talk to Klaus really soon because he was really furious with him.   
Klaus understood all those meanings perfectly clear.  
Stefan remembered the first time he had seen a possessed because it was a young boy who belonged to a rich family.   
Stefan had to kill his father, who was a business man, guilty of dirty business with one of the most dangerous criminal family of the town. His wife had found out this and she tried to protect her son and ran away with him.  
Stefan had waited her escape before killing her husband but suddenly her son started to hit her, then he told her bad dirty things that a son should have never told to his own mother. Suddenly the young boy jumped on her and bite her on the neck, scratching with his teeth a piece of her skin. He let her fell on the ground and die.  
Both Stefan and Eri looked at that scene horrified. His father, who had heard his wife screaming, almost fainted when he saw his wife dying on the ground.   
He yelled at his son, ‘What have you done ? What have you done ?’.  
The little boy began to laugh maniacally and the black and violet veins began to appear all over his face and body. A black fog began to appear around him and everything inside his bedroom went destroyed, his bad, his toys, his closet, everything.   
Stefan didn’t know Verbis Diablo at the time, but he did know something else and in the end he managed to save the boy completely.

“So how is the girl now ?” asked Stefan before to arrive in the living room.

“She’s fine. Alistair and Tyallah used Verbis Diablo but we both know that it wasn’t going to work forever.” answered Eri.

Stefan nodded. No one could fight Hell with Hell, devil with devil. Only God could defeat Devil, only Paradise could defeat Hell. Stefan, Klaus and Eri arrived in the living room and they saw Sofya who was laying on the couch, with Alistair who was keeping her hands, while Tyallah had an handkerchief on her stomach and Stefan could see that it was dirty of blood. Probably she had tried to refuse to come there to help Sofya, so Eri or Lexi, or maybe even Alistair had killed her and then dragged her over his house against her will.  
Poor sissy, it wasn’t her day.  
Freya and Lexi were discussing in the kitchen, the vampire was updating the witch about the whole situation. Weird but true, Freya looked to react better than Klaus.   
Probably the witch understood better then her brother that their family couldn’t defeat a Sinner Hunter, neither physically neither with her magic, so the only solution left was compromise. Maybe Klaus considered it humiliating but he didn’t have any other choice.

“Greetings Alistair, my name is Stefan” said Stefan introducing himself.

Alistair looked at him then they held their hands. It was always strange meeting another Hunter, someone else who lived your same life, who felt your same fear, your same melancholy. Who did what you did.   
After all, the opposites were attracted but they loved their own likes. There was a certain sensation of safety when you met someone of your own kind and if Klaus or Freya hadn’t been there, Stefan would have tried to, well, to know more about them, their lives. They were part os the same unholy family after all.

“Hi Sofya” said Stefan to the blond vampire.

“Hi. Sorry for the coldness, but your daughter said you can help us, help me”. said Sofya.

“I can. During the first years as a Sinner hunter, I tried everyday to find a way to be free of Cade. Someday I met this expertise of mystical art who taught me and Eri some tricks. Nothing strong enough to get me free of this… curse…” sad Stefan looking at his bracelet “But strong enough to protect myself and people around me from demons and creatures of Hell”

“How could use them ? We shouldn’t be allowed to use Verbis Diablo, how could you be free of using angelic magic ?” asked Tyallah skeptical.

“As I said me and my musume don’t often use that kind of magic, almost never and it’s not a danger for Cade. I haven’t found something strong enough to get me free of him yet”

“So… what are you going to do ? A sort of… exorcism ?” asked Lexi confused.

“I know that it sounds crazy but it’s exactly what we’re going to do. Sofya is not possessed by a Nogitsune, but an Hollow. Hollows are hybrids creatures, born by the unions of demons like Cade and humans. After their physical death, they took possess of humans’ bodies to keep their existence. When a shell becomes too weak to live they possess another one and so on” explained Stefan.

“How can we be sure that when this Hollow will be ut Sofya’s body won’t try to possess one of us ?” asked Freya.

“You won’t. This is why you, Klaus and Lexi are going to leave us before we start. Me, Tyallah and Alistair are Hunters, both our souls and bodies belong to a demon, so the Hollow won’t be capable of possessing us. Eri has the spirit of a Kyuubi and believe me, foxes are competitive when it comes to protect their own shell. So she will be safe too.” explained Stefan.

“What ? Are we supposed to leave you alone with them ? With him ?” said Klaus looking at Alistair.

“I’m not glad about this idea either, blondie. You should have stopped breathing at his point If I followed my schedule. Unfortunately, someone wants you to live”

“Don’t think that I’ll let my guard down only because you had managed to get an help for Sofya !! I know that you will never stop to try to kill me !”

“Would you blame me ? After everything you’ve done to me. You killed my daughter !! My daughter !! You have no more right than me to be a father !”

“I made a mistake. I made questionable choice in my life and I can sincerely say that I’m sorry for your daughter, really sorry. Now if you want to show me you’re better than me, stop with this farce and leave the town as soon as you can”

“You’re not the center of my universe, Klaus. I’m here only for Sofya and then I can assure you that…”

“Alistair, can we talk for a moment please ?” asked Stefan with politeness.

Alistair looked at him irritated by his interruption but then he nodded. The blond Hunter saw no point in making any someone who was offering Sofya his precious help. Of all the people inside that room the brunette was the only one who knew how to get Sofya free of the the Hollow.   
Alistair followed Stefan in his bedroom and he watched the brunette who closed the door behind him, which meant that he was determinate to let that conversation to remain private.   
Now Alistair was even more curious to know the topic of their conversation.

“Alistair… We are Sinner Hunters, but we don’t know each other well. Nevertheless we live following the same rules and with the same limits and we can say goodbye to this life with same way, right ?”

“Yes, the soul to save”

“When Eri updated me about the whole situation she also told me that Sofya was your special one. Klaus didn’t understand what it means. I did, I do.”

Alistair bitten his lower lip then he lowered his head then he said “She’s my soul to save. I met her a long time ago, she was already possessed and I… I really wanted to help her but…”

“But ?” asked Stefan.

“She was a broken girl, consumed by revenge, who wanted nothing more than having justice for her family. I saw myself in her, I wanted her to be happy and I wanted the same thing she wanted. Klaus’ death. So I though, ‘If I remain an Hunter, I’m powerful enough to defeat Klaus’, so instead of leading her toward salvation I leaded her toward self destruction. I used to think that I could handle with the entity inside her but recently it has become stronger and I can’t always stop it. It’s dangerous”

Stefan felt the tears in his eyes when he looked Alistair in his eyes and he saw how deeply sad and desperate he really was. Someone else at Stefan’s place, would have yelled and screamed at Alistair to be selfish heartless bastard, but they would never understand.   
Years of loneliness, desperation and persecution by Devil could push anyone to do the most selfish thing to feel less alone, to have even the littlest contact with someone, specially if you met a person who shared your same wishes and goals. Alistair had lost everything and he wanted nothing more than someone who could understand his pain, someone who he could have complicity, commitment and partnership with.   
Sofya was perfect. A young girl, easy to manipulate, who was his soul to save and who felt the same need of being near him, at his side, not matter what and who was willing to do whatever it took to kill Klaus.   
Alistair had been impulsive but it didn’t mean he didn’t love Sofya or now he would have been focused on fighting against Stefan to win his hunt’s territory and so the weapon to kill Klaus.   
Alistair wasn’t like that, he was willing to give up on his revenge for her.

“Did you think that you could have made her happy by letting her killing a man ? Revenge can’t give her family back, or your daughter. But don’t worry, now you have another possibility to save her and to be saved too. But you have to promise me something”

“What ?”

“Klaus is my soul to save. He’s the only possibility I have to be saved from Hell, to be free of living my life with freedom and be happy with my musume”

“Musume ?” asked Alistair confused.

“My daughter. I adopted her a long time ago. She found me first and then we became a family. Unfortunately due to my deal with Devil, I can give her what a norma father can give to his daughter. We move town from town, no stability, not friends, not birthday parties… Sometimes I think she would be better off without me” admitted Stefan while he began to cry.

He knew he could talk with Alistair. They were both fathers and they were both Hunters.   
Alistair could understand what it meant not being able to give enough to people you love because of your past bad decisions.

“Maybe I’m asking you too much but, from a father to a father, let Klaus live. Let me save him. Save my soul to save ad I’m going to save yours, please”

“You’re asking me too much. Killing Klaus has been the main purpose of my whole life but it leaded me nowhere. I promise you. Save Sofya and then we’ll leave New Orleans forever.”

“Promise me that you’re going to have care of Sofya and save her from Hell. She deserves to be happy and free. Okay ?” asked Stefan.

“I can promise it too. Between Klaus and Sofya I will always chose Sofya”

Stefan smiled. He could feel when someone was lying to him because it was a sin and he was sure that Alistair was telling him the truth. Now he knew he had an ally and he knew another Hunter. A part from Tyallah, he had a lucky day.   
Stefan was known with the alias of Ripper, but the brunette was also a strong believer of compromise. Give and take, a favor for a favor. There was no use to use strength when you had something to give in return and it was always a good move avoiding to make new enemies. Stefan had already too much problems and people to deal with.   
What he didn’t know was that another blond vampire was eavesdropping his conversation with Alistair and that he was determinate to talk with Stefan as soon as possible about his soul to save.

…

Sofya had felt scared few times in her life, for example when she saw Klaus killing her family and she found out the existence of creatures she used to believe to exist only into novels. She felt scared during the transition, not because she feared to die but because she knew that she should have to kill a man and become a monster.   
Now she wasn’t scared, but terrified. She was alone in a living room surrounded by three Sinner Hunters and a kitsune and they were going to do a sort of exorcism to her and maybe she wouldn’t be able to survive.   
Again, she wasn’t scared of death, she was scared of leaving Alistair alone in a world so cruel, still slave of Devil, still slave of his own hatred. She didn’t want to leave him, now before they could have a chance to be happy, really happy together.

“Okay, what are we supposed to do ? Pray ?” asked Tyallah with sarcasm.

“No. We have to just hold each other’s hands while Eri pronounced the spell. When the spirit will be out Sofya’s body we won’t have too much time to send the Hollow in the deep of Hell. So be ready to use the Verbis Diablo” recommended Stefan.

The other two Hunters did as he ordered. Eri instead remained out of the circle and began to pronounced the spell. She hadn’t use angelic magic for a long time and she hoped that she wouldn’t fail now.

_““Exorcizamus te, omnis immundus spiritus, omnis satanica potestas, omnis incursio infernalis adversarii, omnis legio, omnis congregatio et secta diabolica, in nomine et virtute Domini Nostri Jesu!” ( “We exorcise you, every impure spirit, every satanic power, every incursion of the infernal adversary, every legion, every congregation and diabolical sect, in the name of Our Lord Jesus and by the power of the Lord!”)_

As soon as Eri began to pronunce the spell, Sofya’s body began to tremble, the black and violet veins appeared again all over her body and her shape became confuse, more like a shadow. Sofya began to scream and shout and she felt an insufferable pain all over her body. Her hazel eyes turned into a cold bright gold, here lips became black and then her screams turned into a malicious laugh.

_“You’re not going to defeat me. Sofya will be never free of me. I’m too stronger and her heart is not pure enough to defeat me, thank you Alistair”_

“You have no idea what you’re talking about. You know nothing” said Alistair with anger,

“Don’t talk to her !” said Stefan.

_“Ah ah ah…”_ at the place of Sofya’s voice there was another one, more childish, more cruel _“… I’ve been inside Sofya since the first time we met. I remembered how you confused Sofya for Maria, your late wife. Sofya asked you if you had confused her with your girlfriend. You looked so angry with her and so frustrated. You cannot know her sins. Tell the truth for once, you used her because you couldn’t accept someone else to take your late wife’s place”_

Alistair was going to answer her again but Stefan held his hand tighter to prevent him from talking to her again.   
‘She isn’t Sofya, don’t talk to her”

_“You couldn’t accept that a cruel little brat like Sofya could have a chance to be happy while Maria died. You hates Sofya and loved Maria at equal measure. This is why you tried to destroy my shell. But don’t worry, Sofya will die really soon. Isn’t this what bad people deserve Tyallah ?”_

The Huntress rolled her eyes, now it was her turn. Fantastic. Being judged by a possessed wasn’t part of her program when she arrived in New Orleans. She would have preferred that the Hollow continued to talk with Alistair. She had never had a boyfriend and despite her coldness she was fond of love stories.

_“Taken… Forsaken… Sold… Used… Abused… Cade gave you a teste of power and then you decided to take your revenge. You faked your death and then you killed all your owners. Let me clarify something for you, you will always be a stray dog with a leash tight around its neck. You had a terrible life, God forgot about you, your parents had forgotten about you, and if your parent didn’t love you how could you expect God to love you now ?”_

Tyallah bitten her lips, trying to ignore the urgency of punching that bitch right in the face or at least to all her to go Hell.   
It was so easy for abomination like her to judge people and hurt me. Tyallah did it herself and it was funny but you became good enough to hurt people with words only when you learnt to ignore people who tried to do the same to you. Sofya’s neck snapped twice, as it went broken only to repeat itself soon after. She began to lick her lips, not sensually, more like a predator who was tasting the moment to devour its prey completely.

_“Ah ah ah… God doesn’t love you !! God doesn’t love you !! God doesn’t love Stefan either ! Neither Damon ! Neither Klaus ! Damon doesn’t love you enough to be a decent brother and Klaus gets tired of people. You are an infatuation and an infatuation you’ll remain !”_

Stefan tried not to lower his gaze to look at her, he tried to focus his attention on the black fog that began to get out of her body and that it was a good sign. It meant that the Hollow would be out of her really soon. Eri was keeping to repeat the spell over and over again and her Kyuubi appeared around her, making the effects of the spells stronger.

_“You’re not a good father ! You’re not a good person ! You will never be free of Hell ! You’re cruel just as I am. You’re not enough for no one, no one will love you forever…”_

The Hollow was going to say something else but suddenly Sofya screamed, the black fog wrapped her body completely, all the furnitures in the living room began to tremble, the glass of the window broke, the couch were Sofya was laying broke too and the blond girl fell on the ground, still screaming.   
Suddenly from her body appeared a dark shape without body, where it could possible see only a pair of golden eyes.  
The Hollow was out and was ready to attack them. It was time to use Verbis Diablo and send her to Hell once and of all.

_“Etsi nüllaan an oge en Kailfernum troovea eksdamnaskek”_ I banish you now to the pit of Hell.) said Stefan.

_“Etsi wesrat khedekareb emi. Emi nebratronak nüllaan. Maa’. Etsi an nat ashgagna non dünasse. Itsi maa’ ebdee nüllaan! Emi nebratronak!”_ ( I have the power to kill. I am your master now. Die. You cannot fight. You must die now! I am your master!) continued Tyallah

_“Itsi redreyii en kailfernum igiirtekh. Itsi hun eukfaah sromanaht mendafa’. Itsi eukseepowaa’ maa’. Ullag nehosellu, kosta atsüü. Emi nebratronak nüllaan yak mateyii. Maa’.”_ (Return to the fires of Hell. Starve and die. Rot and die. Unholy demon, evil woman. I am your master now and always. Die.)

The Hollow tried to attack them one more time but the angelic magic had weaken her too much and she could already feel the Hellfire wrapping her and dragging her to Hell. She shouted one list time before the fire wrapped her completely and then she disappeared with her black fog.  
Sofya fainted, but the veins disappeared from her body and everyone could hear the beat of her heart, which meant she was alive and good. They succeeded. He wasn’t a failure and he had just given to another hunter the possibility to be saved from Hell.

“She’s safe… we have saved her…” whispered Stefan smiling.

…

Stefan hated ‘Goodbyes’ he had pronounced that word too much times and it was always painful, not matter who he was telling that word to. After the exorcism or whatever it was, they had waited for Sofya to be better before to accompany both Tyallah and Alistair at the borders of the town.

“Thank you for your help. I will be grateful for you forever and I’m feeling better now without that thing inside me. I hope you’ll find your happiness soon” said Sofya to him.

“Good luck Sofya, be happy you too”

For a moment he thought she was going to hug him, instead she just held his hand tight before letting it go and entered in Alistair’s car. Stefan smiled. Sofya definitely didn’t look like an hug type. Not that Stefan minded. He wouldn’t have felt at easy anyway and he didn’t enjoy physical contact with strangers.   
Alistair came close to him and held his hand as Sofya did.

“Thank you really. For having given me another chance. I will do my best to save her, both of us, this time. I’m not going to fail her again.”

“What the Hollow said…”

“It wasn’t completely false. Sofya looks like Maria, a lot. At the beginning it was terribly painful looking her in the face, believe for a mere second that she was someone who I had loved with all my heart, only to be reminded that she wasn’t. I’ve been so focused on taking back what I have left of my past that I didn’t think about my future. Now I will. Sofya deserves better from me. Maria and my little princess would have wanted something better from me”

“Maria and your daughter just want you to be happy. It’s not your fault if they died. Its Klaus. I’m sorry if he’s my soul to save but I…”

“Don’t blame yourself for it. We don’t pick our soul to save as we don’t chose who love or not. Just… Klaus is a dangerous person and you… Be careful and have care of your heart… You’re too gentle for this life, maybe even for your own good”

“Do you think Klaus will hurt me ?”

Stefan didn’t know why he had asked something like that to one of Klaus’ greatest enemy but he needed an opinion from someone who had seen Klaus’ dark side with his own eyes, someone who knew better than him how to protect himself from Klaus.   
Not protect physically, Stefan could easily defeat Klaus with a punch if he wanted to. He meant mentally, emotionally. Stefan wanted to be sure he was not letting himself falling down into an hole of hatred, lies and sufferance.

“Klaus hurts everyone. He hurt both enemies and alleys, even his siblings. He may not does it on purpose but it doesn’t make him less dangerous. You’re a dear boy, more than he would ever deserve in my opinion, but from what I saw you’re also perfectly capable of taking care of yourself, which it’s a good thing if you mean to spend you eternity with Klaus. He could be the best or the worst thing ever happen in your life. So…”

“So nothing. Thank you”

“I’m sorry, lad. I hope you’ll find your happiness anyway, with or without Klaus. Your daughter deserves to be happy and to have a real family. Good luck”

Alistair smiled to him, slightly, for just a second and Stefan for a moment believed it wasn’t real. Then he nodded and with his gaze he followed Alistair’s cars until the moment he couldn’t see it anymore.   
It was in moment like this that he truly realized how much difficult was for him living separated by the other Hunters, by people who could help him somehow, who could understand him better than anyone.

“Are you feeling homesick ? Are you thinking about dear old time ? Or are you sad because you think that you’re going to miss us ?” asked Tyallah near to her Maserati.

“Maybe both. I often feel homesick about old time and I’m going to miss to have someone who can understand me completely. Don’t you feel the need of being in company of someone you can be completely honest with ?”

Tyallah remained silent for a moment and Stefan thought that she wasn’t going to answer to him but then she surprised him again.

“I feel alone, always actually. This is the life I’ve chosen to myself after all. When I made a deal with Cade I wasn’t aware of all the consequences, everything I wanted was to live in a decent home, having three or even two meals everyday, wearing clean clothes. No one else but Cade could give me that. I was desperate and no one else wanted to help me. I just wanted to be helped, I swear”

Who could consider them monsters when they talk and cry like that ? They weren’t born monsters, they became. They had to or they wouldn’t have survived so long. The only sin that Tyallah committed was to be ingenuity.   
Another person would have considered the situation differently, maybe with more rationality, but Stefan was the last person who could judge or point the finger against another Hunter. They all were naive and guilty of idiocy when they made a deal with Cade.

“Listen my boy, since I don’t know what will happen to me after I will have left this town, I want to tell you something”

“What do you mean ?” asked Stefan.

“I was sent here to kill Freya Mikaelson but I failed. Cade won’t have any mercy with me and he will probably kill me. I’m afraid but I won’t escape my fate anyway. God helps me when my moment will arrive”

“I’m sorry…” whispered Stefan.

“Don’t be. Is nothing I haven’t anticipated. Anyway, what I have shown you is really important Stefan. I showed you all your possibilities. The person you are, who you want to be and who you can become. I see a light inside you Stefan, an innocence that Cade wants all to himself and for now it has been your salvation. But be careful. Cade is the most dangerous of the creature, but he’s not the most dangerous of your enemies. Believe me or not, if you want to be saved, you don’t have to defeat Devil, at least not only him”

“Then who else ?”

“You know who I’m talking about” then the woman kissed him on the check “Goodbye Stefan. Say hi to that snotty little brat of yours. She loves you, don’t hurt her, never. Good luck”

Then she entered inside her car and went away too. Stefan didn’t know if he should be grateful for her or not for the things he may or may not found out about himself but he did hope that God would protect her from Cade.   
At least now he was sure that everyone was safe, Klaus, his siblings, his family and also Sofya. It was a small victory he gained from the Devil after all that time. He was feeling good because he knew to have done something good, because God would be proud of him, because it proved that he wasn’t only a monster, that he could still be a decent man too. He was a Sinner Hunter, but not a monster, he could be a good man.   
He didn’t understand who was his greatest nemesis but Tyallah said she had shown to him. Maybe in that dream there were more hidden meanings that he could get right now. He would better remember it since it was based on himself, his true self, his fears and his guilty desires.   
Cade was a virus that entered in people’s mind and used against them fears, desires and dreams they weren’t even aware about. Stefan had to be smarter. Tyallah had given him a card that he would be better play well.  
When he arrived at this apartment he saw that Klaus was waiting him in front of the door and he knew that the day wasn’t over yet.

“Hello Klaus” he said simply.

“We need to talk Stefan, now”

Around them a silence that seemed to suffocating both.


	29. Ghost of the Past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 'I'm just a ghost of Mystic Falls' history...'

**CHAPTER 29**

‘Maybe I shouldn’t have come here, after all. Maybe it’s a bad idea’ he thought when he found himself in front of Mystic Falls Church. 

The Church was always the first place he visited when he arrived in a new town. He went there and prayed God to be with him, to wish him luck. Believing that God could still love a creature like sometimes it was the only thing that pushed him to carry on with his existence.

“In nomine Patris, et Filis et Spiritus Santis… Amen”

He made the sign of the cross before turning around and going away. He hadn’t come back in Mystic Falls for a long time, since he left this place for the first time. Coming back there, thinking about old time, imagining what would have been, regretting what could have been was too painful and he wanted to have a new life elsewhere. Nevertheless he gawked at the town he saw. New, modern, full of life, it wasn’t exactly what he was expecting.   
People passed next to him and looked at him with curiosity, probably they recognized he was a newcomer. Probably, Mystic Falls wasn’t so big after all and probably people had just began to talk about this new stranger guy who seemed to arrive from nowhere.   
He didn’t even know what he was going to answer if someone asked to him where he came from, but he knew where he was going and why.   
God, if only people stopped to gawk at him in that ridiculous way. Why were they looking at him like that ? Have they never seen a guy with sunglasses ?   
Probably people often looked at people around them, probably it was him who wasn’t feel at easy. Possible.   
Well he was there for a reason, so he would better stay focused and not get distracted. It was important not to mess up the entire situation, which was delicate itself.   
God, his head hurt and he felt dizzy and on the point of trowing up at any moment. Probably it was that that made people look at him. His illness caught attention, lovely. He couldn’t do anything with this, the spell put on him was making him feel dizzy and probably it was the only reason why he had been convinced so easily to come there, in that tedious town that pulled back too many memories to him.  
He looked at the ring on his finger and suddenly it felt too tight, like it was going to snap his finger at any moment.

“I would get hurt if I take it off” he murmured looking at his ring.

Oh… he got distracted again. Damn it. His headache prevented him from thinking clearly. He needed to sit somewhere for a while, or he was sure he would faint really soon.   
’No… I can’t… I have to move on. The sooner I will accomplish my target the sooner I will feel better’ thought him. He didn’t know the town so well and he didn’t want to ask for informations, he didn’t want someone to think that he had got lost. Specially when he hadn’t, not really at least. It was only because of his headache. He would be so glad to take some painkillers but they wouldn’t have any effects on him, damn it !!   
Maybe it was just a miracle or maybe it was the power of will but he arrived at the Mystic Falls Cemetery without fainting although his headache was still strong and he felt that his brain was going to blow up at any time. At least he could be alone there, he could began his research, since he didn’t know anyone in the town and he didn’t have anywhere to go.   
That place wasn’t his home anymore.  
He arrived in front of Salvatore Mausoleum, where he knew he could find the clue he was looking for. It wasn’t an original place where to hide something important and the Salvatore Crypt wasn’t so well protected. Not when its owners couldn’t care less about who had been buried inside there.   
There was fog, in the cemetery and it was hard seeing where you were walking and it wasn’t helpful for his headache since he was becoming to be very stressed. He didn’t want to go there in the first place, he had been obliged, manipulated even and he didn’t want to deal with anyone there but he had to. He promised to a dear person and there he was.   
What he knew was that the Tuning Fork was hide somewhere in the Salvatore Crypt, probably due to Cade’s plane of making him coming back there and destroyed that horrible place himself.   
He was on the point of entering inside the Crypt when he suddenly heard footsteps behind him and then someone who gasped.

“Ah… Wh… Silas ? Tom ? How could you… ?”

_Tall, handsome with a pair of green forest who looked ready to burn you from the inside. So this was the face of the evil._   
_She had to admit, the Evil was too handsome , so lethal, even more that she would imagine._   
_Evil shouldn’t be so attractive and she should have known better than coming closer to the beautiful flame._

_“We haven’t introduced to each other yet, I’m Silas and believe… Even though you look like Amara… Your face disgusts me and I won’t hesitate yo rip you heart if you don’t give me back what you have stolen from me”_

_The cure and his girlfriend of course. That was what they have stolen from him, a possibility to ve happy with his true love. Elena could only imagine how furious that guy could really be._   
_He looked calm and composed but she could see that he was only waiting for the right moment to kill her. And he would probably consider it funny._

_“You’re just nothing more than a Shadow of the woman I love. An insult, a rancor born from the hate of a woman I disdain with all myself. You’re only presence is enough to offend me”_

_Elena didn’t know what to say but she was aware that deep down she was scared. She was a vampire, she was strong, fast and her body could easily heal wounds but Silas… that man… he terrified her and she hated being alone with him._   
_If she only thought that he used to be a simple man, who had lost everything he cared in one second. Quetsyah had allowed him to live because she wanted him to be powerless, immortal and alone._   
_She had condemned him to an eternal agony and he now wanted to resume everything. He was no longer a man and everyone was going to know it._

He turned around with an annoyed expression until he saw who had just spoken. It was a brunette girl, much similar to another woman he had met before and who he didn’t want to think about. From her astonished expression, he could say that she had recognize him or that she was seeing someone else in him. It had to be because he had never met her. She wasn’t a vampire so he couldn’t have met her before and she wasn’t the woman he knew. They could be twins but she wasn’t her. It was impossible.   
He noticed that the girl was still looking at him with astonishment and also with a little fear so he choose to take word for once.

“Hello lady. Are we playing at some strange game ? Do I have to try to guess your name too ?” asked him trying to be polite.

“No I just… You look like someone I know” she said touching her hair, almost with shyness.

“Do I look like your boyfriend ?” asked him with a little malice.

Usually he didn’t smirk like that, not at people he was interested on, not when he had not time to waste but he was pretty annoyed and maybe he could gain some informations from the brunette girl. Surely she knew more about the town, probably she could him some useful advices and informations.   
The girl looked almost insulted by his insinuation and it made his smirk bigger. She was with someone else and she didn’t want anyone to think she had showed interest toward another man, specially someone she didn’t even know.

“You look like someone I saw… dying… I can say so”

Elena couldn’t believe of what she was seeing and for a moment she believed to have finally lost her mind. She came to the cemetery because she needed air, or more precisely she needed to stay alone and the cemetery was a place where she had always managed to find calm, where she could write on her journal in piece, where no one talked to her and where she didn’t have to listen to anyone but her stream of consciousness. Instead when she arrived she had recognized the shape of that guy. He had a face she would never forget. The face of a monster who had hurt her and her friend frequently, whose former fiancee had tortured her and whose lover looked exactly like her.  
That man had the same face of the person who showed her what it really meant being a doppelgänger. The other man instead was good man and Elena was sad for his death. He deserved better from his life but destiny had chosen that he had to be heir of a son of a bitch.   
Who was that guy now ? Why was he here ? In front of the Salvatore Crypt and ready to enter inside ?

“Dying ? Are they both death ?” asked the guy with the same mischievous smile.

“Yes… they were twins… their death was tragic.” she lied “You could be their twins too, the hair… the face… even your voice… It’s…”

The man smiled. She wasn’t a good liar as she thought to be but telling her would have been impolite and he believed to have offended her enough with his malice. She wasn’t at her easy, it was easily to notice. He may wasn’t a good boy, not completely, but there was no fun with mocking a girl who looked so lost herself. Something about him was making her feel afraid and in danger. On the other hand she was sincere when she told him that he remembered her someone of her past but he couldn’t see how this could be possibile. He had relatives, but not twins. Never. He would have known. Or maybe he had twins just like that girls had ones. That thought made him smile. The girl was a Doppelgänger. It was obvious. Couldn’t be there other Doppelgängers ? Maybe. He had never known all the story.

“Well… I’m not Silas or Tom. My name is Stefan.”

“Are… are you… sure ? I mean… Aren’t you trying to fool me ? People have been lying a lot to me and I’m tired of lies”

“See it from yourself. Don’t I look like a ghost do I ? I’m real. Take my hand, feel how warm I am”

He handed her his hand and Elena noticed another thing that made her gasped and her cheeks paler. The ring, the ring he was wearing. It was large, silver lapis lazuli around his middle finger. It wasn’t the fact that he was a vampire that was surprising her, but the similarity between that ring and the ones belonged to Damon. She couldn’t wrong and wasn’t getting crazy, she observed Damon’s ring a lot of time and she could never forget how it was made. Why did this man have a ring similar ? Who was him ?  
Suddenly she remembered the she had another journal inside her purse, a journal that didn’t belong to her, that belonged to someone else, a ghost from the past. Damon’s past. Did he look like a ghost ? Elena was tempted to say ‘yes’.  
When he saw that she was hesitating, he gently grabbed her hand and she felt shivers all over her body.

“See ? Do I still remember you someone else ?” he blinked then he smiled again “Do you like my ring ? It’s pretty, I like it too. There is only one ring like this. It’s owned by a person. A person I’m looking for”

“A person you’re looking for ? Who ?” asked Elena while her heart started to beat faster.

It couldn’t be… he couldn’t… Was he Damon’s younger brother ? She hadn’t know anything about his existence since yesterday morning and now he was there, in flesh, in front of her. It was stranger. It was… it couldn’t be a coincidence. She wasn’t sure if she had to be happy or not.   
Damon’s younger brother could have been the only hoped she had left to save her boyfriend, but on the other hand she had still in mind Kol’s words. The Original Vampire warned her that the younger Salvatore was a dangerous, at least for people like Damon. She asked Alaric to do some researches about Sinner Hunter but he hadn’t told her anything yet.

“I don’t want to annoy you with my problems. I will find him, sooner or later. Not matter how hard it will”

“Him ? Are you looking for a friend ?” she asked even more nervous than before.

“Ah ah ah… You’re so kind but really, I can take care of myself and I will find a way to resolve my problem on my own” answered Stefan turning around and starting to go away.

“No wait…”.

She tried to stop him but the fog became suddenly more dense uniti the moment she couldn’t see him anymore. Was that only a dream ? Elena had tears in her eyes. She couldn’t believe to have touched with her own fingers the only salvation left for Damon only for losing it again. If it was real. It couldn’t be a dream. The boy was real. He had to be real. Her mind couldn’t make her so cruel jokes. Not now. Not when she was on the edge of the desperation. She had to find him, she had to ask to Bonnie to use a Locator Spell or something like that. But then what if did she imagine everything ? What if did she dream everything only to cling on a false hope ? Couldn’t he be only a trick of her mind ? How could she be believable when she was the first who wasn’t sure about that had happen ?  
Stefan was walking in the wood, maybe he shouldn’t have left that girl in that way but something about her disturbed him, a lot. She remembered him someone of his past, which was a bad thing despite everything. He didn’t want to remember anything. God, his headache came back, he would be better come back home and sleep, he needed rest and he needed to clarified his ideas. He knew now that the informations he received were truth, now he knew what do to. More or less. He couldn’t come back to the cemetery to retrive what he needed for the moment. Not if the girl was there. It wouldn’t be wise.

…

Eri and Lexi were spending good time together at one bar, drinking hot tea with biscuits. Maybe it was due her Japanese origins but Eri loved tea, specially when it was hot. It was the only drink that could calm her and made her feel better at any moment. They couldn’t stay home, it was too empty and too silent for their tastes. Stefan wanted them out of his way, at least for that day and he also didn’t want anyone else around him. Apparently his conversation with Klaus had tormented him more than everyone expected. Eri had been tempted of paying a visit to that blond prick but Lexi stopped her.   
One of the many things that Lexi had learnt through her life was that was never convenient to interfere in love quarrel, not matter who was involved and what had caused. If Stefan wanted a day for himself to clear his mind and to fix whatever problem he had, they could only let him go. Despite everything, Stefan was capable of taking care of himself better than Eri gave him credits for.   
Stefan was a rock, strong, stubborn, always capable of finding a way to stand up after every falls nor that she had doubts about it. Stefan wasn’t a porcelain vase, he wasn’t an ornament, he was a magnum gun, something little, less appealing and maybe less expensive than a vase sometimes, but lethal, faithful only to the one who’s holding it and sometimes it was the only thing that could save your life.

“This tea is delicious !” commented Lexi taking a drink.

“I agree, I think I’m going to order another cup.” said Eri.

New Orleans was glowing that morning and full of live, like if the horrors of the other day never happened. But they did, they all still wore the scars. Eri could never forget the memorie of Sofya’s body covered by violet veins and it wasn’t over yet. As soon as her otōsan would feel ready to come back in the game they should try to fix another trouble that had made.   
Good faith or not, until that moment they have been saving anyone but Klaus. They had made mistake after mistake and now Klaus was furious with them and her otōsan didn’t want no one around him.  
‘What a mess…’ she thought.

“Are you thinking about that grumpy ?” asked Lexi.

“Yes. I know that he isn’t passing one of his depression days and that he’s not pondering how to kill himself but is far worse. Otōsan doesn’t like when I see him in certain circumstances but he always allows me to go with him. This moment is different. When he told me he wanted to stay alone he meant it, he was serious, too much serious.”

“Do you mean he was serious that he was going to do something highly meaningless alone ? That kind of serious ?”

“No. The kind of serious that meant he is going to do something highly dangerous and he doesn’t want me to be involved. He can’t fight all the world alone”

Eri finished all her tea and suddenly it tasted less sweat and more bitter. She hated when her otōsan decided to act on his own. It wasn’t like she didn’t trust him, she just didn’t trust other people. He had been hurt enough in his life and she felt protective about him. Partners before everything. Always. It was a promise he made to her. He had never had secrets to her, but now he refused to tell her about the conversation between him and Klaus and he didn’t want her to stay with him. It was the first time that he decided to do something on his own, maybe she should just get used. Her otōsan was an adult after all and after all he went through yesterday maybe he even needed to stay alone for a moment.

“Eri, you’re his daughter, his life. He just wants to protect you and I think that his decision has something to do with what Tyallah had shown to him”

“What about his dream ? Did he tell you something ?”

Lexi furrowed her narrows. Actually it was simply a deduction of her but she couldn’t avoid to think about what he confided to her about Eri.  
Stefan told her, more than once, the he didn’t consider himself a good father for Eri, that more than encourage that sense of family between the two he should have just let her go. Only thinking about a life without the little kitsune hurt Stefan deeply but it also hurt him all the possibilities that he felt he was taking away from Eri. The possibility of finding someone else, a family, two parents that could love her. Someone who could help her with her powers. Someone who could give her a batter life. Lexi hated when he talked like that but she presumed that it was a common parent issue, the constant fear of not doing enough for their children. Of not being enough. Lexi looked at Eri and caressed her hair.

“He didn’t tell me anything Eri. It wasn’t necessary”

It was in moment like that that Eri would have preferred to be a fool.

…

Matt was driving his car toward the Mystic Falls Hospital. Apparently there had been a murderer there, a medic had been killed and mutilated and also many blood pockets had disappeared. It couldn’t be a coincidence. It had to do something with Damon and that mysterious woman, Sybil. It was known that a lot of people gave their blood into the Mystic Falls Hospital and because of that, unfortunately, that place had always been the favorite target of vampires. Until that moment, the homicides committed by Damon had been covered, more or less, and protected by media but now the police force couldn’t hide anything anymore. Specially because al lot of people saw the corpse and the blood.   
Now they would be under everyone’s eyes and they could no longer make errors.   
It was while he was driving toward the Hospital that he saw someone, a ghost, or so he thought, walking down the sidewalk. Matt was stationary at the traffic light, so he could observed the ghost well, without believing to have imagined everything.   
The guy didn’t seem to notice him, he was just walking toward the sidewalk with a bad on his shoulder and a painful expression on his face and he repeatedly touched his head.  
There couldn’t be a mistake, it was him but Matt wanted to be sure before pointing a gun in his face. He lowered the car window and talked.

“Good morning lad. Are you okay ?”

The guy looked at him with a curious face and Matt could clearly see that the brunette was trying to understand if they had met each other before. That guy didn’t look dangerous but Matt knew better than trust of strangers. He had his bad experience with supernatural and he was sure that that guy was a Doppelgänger of Silas.  
‘Doppelgänger of Silas ? Is the reason why everyone seems to know my face ? Interesting”.  
That would make everything difficult for him. He didn’t need to caught attention of other people in the town, not if he want to accomplish his ‘mission’ as soon as possible and he had already wasted too much time. Nevertheless the blond guy in front of him was a cop, he surely known the town better than him, because he could be helpful after all.

“Actually not. I’ve just arrived in town and I feel confused. I don’t even know why I’m here or if it’s a good idea stay here but…”

“But what ? I’m a cop I can help you”

Yes, he could, but a Sinner Hunter was such a spiteful creature that he had waited for the traffic light to come green before to answer. So he waited long enough not to give answers but not so long not to have the answers he needed. In the cop’s mind. It was a good thing that he had borrowed some powers from his friend, or he wouldn’t have been capable of reading anyone’s mind, at least not strong enough to find out informations like that.  
It was was painful due to his headache but he had to resist. Now he knew where else he had to go in case things turned out worse that he had presumed.   
For the moment he couldn’t come back to the cemetery to retrieve the Staff of Arcadius which meant that for now he was completely disarmed and he continued to find idiots who saw other people in him.  
That was why changed his mind pretty soon, he didn’t want anyone else involved, not for the moment and he couldn’t trust anyone, specially people who had known another him and who were ready to stab him in the back.

“But… you have to go. Sorry to have wasted your time”

Then he began to walk away.   
Matt was stunned. He tried to beg the guy to stay there but the cars behind him began to honk and he couldn’t anything but drive.   
‘Shit…’ he thought. He had to find a way to follow that guy but he was requested at the Hospital. He couldn’t disobey a direct order. How would he justify himself ?  
‘Sorry I didn’t go to the hospital because I was busy following a stranger that looks very much alike another crazy psychopath ?’.  
The day couldn’t go worst.

…

Klaus was in a bad mood and heartbroken. Maybe he had exaggerated with Stefan, maybe he shouldn’t have treated him like that, not after everything the baby vampire had done to him and for his family, maybe Klaus should call him but his proud and his pain stopped him from doing it.   
He didn’t want to talk, see or listen Stefan at least for one day, not before he would manage to clarify his mind and to see through his anger. Also he hadn’t apologized with the little fox for his behave yet. He didn’t even where he was Marcel, if he was okay. Not that he cared about that other brat anymore, but his siblings told him that Marcel didn’t leave their house in the best conditions. Actually they didn’t even know if he had left their house for his will and not under the manipulation of someone else or something else.   
For what he could know, another of that worm could have grown inside his neck and now he was somewhere, walking like a zombie, doing only God knew what.   
The only good thing of the day was that Hope was coming back in New Orleans and that he would be able to hug her tight in his arms again really soon. He really missed her, he always missed her and he couldn’t think that once he would have been willing of getting rid of her.   
He was drawing her beautiful little face now, in the living room while Elijah was reading a book and Kol was somewhere, probably in his studio.   
Klaus knew that Kol hadn’t given up yet, that his younger brother was still convinced that Henrik was alive and that they had to find him. Klaus should have been happier about this new, he knew he should be but he wasn’t.   
Henrik’s death was the most painful memories he had of his human life, even more painful that all his father’s beats and insults, even more than his bastard child status, even more than the curse that his mother had put on him. He has been blaming himself for this for his whole life and now ? It would be like he would have failed his littlest brother again if he found out that he was alive, alone and slave of Devil.   
What if Henrik had looked for him before ? How much had he suffered all those years ? Without anyone of his family at his side helping him ?   
Klaus would never forget the pain on Stefan’s face when the toddler told him that he was a Sinner Hunter and that his brother had abandoned him for this. Klaus knew Damon and he was aware of his much of a selfish prick he could be, but he would have never imagined that he had a younger brother who had abandoned. What if his brother believed they had forgotten him too ?

“What’s worrying you, Nik ?” asked Elijah lowering the book.

“Henrik… Kol’s convinced that he’s still alive. We haven’t talked about this possibility yet, what do you think ?” asked Klaus.

“I don’t know. It’s not like he would be the first member of family found after all this time but… I don’t know, really. We were… we are sure that he died. He wasn’t a witch, nor a vampire, he was just him. He was beautiful. I don’t know if I can accept the idea of him being manipulated and used by Devil. He was just a child when he died”

“Sometimes I wander if we weren’t children as well when we had been turned. Life looked so simple compared to what we had gone trough all these centuries” said Klaus “Sometimes I thought about how perfect we used to be and nevertheless I don’t want thing to come back to how they used to be.”

“Not even I. What about Stefan ?”

“Nothing about him. I don’t want to talk about him. Not for a while.”

“It’s good to me, but you know that we should talk about it sooner or later. He may be on our side right now but he remains a Sinner Hunter and the possibilities that he will be a threat for our family in the future are high” said Elijah with severity.

“I’m perfectly aware of this. Don’t worry. My guard is always up” said Klaus standing up and going away.

He didn’t need a lecture by Elijah about the umpteenth wrong lover he choose to court. He was perfectly aware that Stefan was dangerous and that he would be better stay away from him, but he couldn’t. Deep down, Klaus knew that he was too late to make a step behind, that he couldn’t protect his heart anymore.   
He was in love with that little toddler. If he had suspected it, he remained convinced after their conversation or little argument. He would have felt so hurt if he didn’t care for the toddler and he wouldn’t have forgiven him so quickly if it was just a fling between them. He also missed Stefan, a lot and again he wanted to call him but he couldn’t.   
Stefan had to clarify his mind and so Klaus or they were going to fight again next time that they would talk. He wasn’t afraid of losing Stefan anyway, they were linked to each other, he was toddler’s soul to save, which meant that they belonged each other. Stefan needed Klaus to be saved from Hell and Klaus needed Stefan to save his soul. Stefan needed Klaus to have light in his life and Klaus needed Stefan to receive love from someone.   
Klaus had to admit. Stefan and he were perfect for each other, both in an healthy and unhealthy way. They loved the way they owned the other, they loved needing and being needed, they loved dominating and submitting the other. Klaus wanted Stefan and Stefan wanted to belong to him, gave all himself to him, his first kiss with a man, his innocence, his virginity, his purity. All things that the toddler has been denying to the Devil himself and was ready to give to Klaus and the blond wanted nothing else but possessing the toddler, marking him, having him. Let the Devil watch how Klaus took Stefan away from him forever. Stefan was his perfect soulmate somehow, gentle, naive in his own way, smart, but also manipulative, brave, stubborn and somehow crazier than him, fearless even. After all if you weren’t afraid of Devil there was nothing that could scare you.  
They would have been quite a pair if Stefan was still a Ripper. He smirked at that thought then he chose to go for a walk to be alone with his thoughts.

…

He had to admitting that his original purpose was revealing to be more hard to accomplish than he thought. He had planned to go to the cemetery to take what he needed but he had been surprised by the girl, then he had thought to come back home for a moment since his headache didn’t look to get better and he met that other cop. At least now he knew where else he could go.   
That was something else he could still looking for and it was in the garage of a girl named Caroline Forbes. It hadn’t been difficult find the house and he knew that it was the right moment to take what he needed since there wasn’t anyone in the house.  
Entering had never been a problem for someone like him and surely he had committed crime far worse than Domestic infringement. The garage was big and full of boxes and it hadn’t been easy at all finding the right boxe.   
Even if he hadn’t lived in Mystic Fall for centuries, he constantly kept updated about the main events of its history and he knew that there was a Bell created by Ethan Maxwell in 1790. The Maxwell family were in charge of making church bells back when Mystic Falls was founded and he knew that Sybil had found the Bell in 1883 in the hope to use it to protect herself from Cade.   
Unfortunately Peter Maxwell there the bell in the lake under the Wickery Bridge in 1992.  
It would have been the first place where he was going to go after a little rest, but at least now he knew that he could spare a swim in the lake.   
A cop was always an important source of information, specially in cases like that.   
In the end he managed to find the Striker almost when he was arrived at the point to give up and maybe return another day. Picking up the Striker wouldn’t be easy since he didn’t even have a car or maybe he didn’t need. A nasty idea was surfacing inside his mind, a really nasty idea. He knew that there are other people who were looking for the Bell, the cop and his friends, another information he gained thanks to his telepathy. Now if he took both the Striker and the Staff of Arcadius and they would thought he had done it to give it to Devil, since he was a Sinner Hunter, he worked for Cade and they didn’t know him. Probably they didn’t even know that he existed. Well, he had no more time to waste. He did what he had to do and then he also left Maxwell’s journals where it was explained what the Bell had been built for.   
It was a good things that he had met all that people after all. He had known from the girls that there were people who used to know someone with his face and from the cop where to find the Striker but also that him and his friends were close to find it too.   
They wouldn’t believe in the coincidence that Damon’s brother came back to Mystic Falls with the Striker and the Staff of Arcadius ready to be used to save Mystic Falls and Damon.   
He had to admit he miscalculated a lot of details but he was still in time to fix his plan.   
He put everything in order in the garage then he came back inside the house. There another curiosity he needed to satisfy.   
‘I want to know if they are close to find some informations about Sinner Hunters’.  
He searched all the house until he found a studio where the desk was covered by papers. He came close to them and read them. There was nothing interested written on them, only notes about the Bell and Sirens and a place called Armory. Nothing interesting, nothing about Sinner Hunters.   
Sinner Hunters were rare and the biggest part of people who had met one in their life didn’t have the time to tell to someone else so no one could have ’studied’ them properly as vampires, werewolves and witches. It was a good thing since he could make up a good tale this way.   
Without nothing else to do he went out from the house.  
He was walking down the street again and he was truly pondering the idea of renting a car when a few steps when suddenly he did another interesting encounter.   
There were two cute girls, one blond with white skin, the other brunette white chocolate skin.

“The kids are with Ric. He wants to keep them under his watchful eyes at least for the moment. I don’t think it would be useful tough.”

“He’s just worried about them, specially after what happen.”

Eavesdropping other’s conversation was rude, extremely rude, but he had seen them through the sins of the blond cop. they were friends and he had seen photo of them in the blond’s house too. He rarely forgot someone’s face.   
Probably they would consider him a ghost too.   
Not that he considered himself much different if he thought about it. How else could you call someone who lived like a shadow ? Spending his whole life observing how other people lived their live with their family, friends and children or other how they wasted theirs in their passions, wishes, guilty. He envied them all.   
It didn’t matter that they made good or bad choices, what he envied them was their freedom of making choices itself. They could live, eat what they wanted, drink until they throw up even their soul, have friends, go to parties, love, hate, be happy or sad. He was free of doing nothing.   
He was a ghost, that had nothing left but cry for his former life and for the people he used to love and used to be part of his life. That was why he agreed to this, Devil had taken everything away from him and reduced him to nothing more than a living shadow.   
He hoped he would live this place as soon as possible, it used to be his home but it no longer felt like that.   
He hated Mystic Falls because obliged him to remember when he used to be a child, when he played with his toys and ran after the butterflies… And people loved him.   
It was also the place where he died and everything around him had the bitterness taste of the death, his death. He remembered clearly the cold, cruel, merciless fingers of death reaching out for him, taking him away his youth, his innocence. Mystic Falls was his tombstone, where every corner looked ready to tell a piece of his life, of his story, how he lived, how he died and why he was still living.   
‘I’m just a ghost of Mystic Falls’ history…’.  
Suddenly the two women notice his presence.

“Silas…” whispered the brunette.

“Tom… whispered the blond.

'No... It couldn't be... he died... I saw him dying' Caroline thought. Why was fate so cruel with her ? Why did it keep push all her faults to her ? Why did it constantly make her remember her guilty ? Did she deserve to pay so much ? 

_“Hi… I’m Caroline… I hope you’re right”_

_“Hmm… I’m fine… What happen to me ? Who was that guy ?”_

_Caroline felt so sorry for him. He was an innocent boy, who chose to dedicate his life saving other’s people life. Be a Paramedic. A compassionate man who cared about other and who didn’t feel shame of showing it. People who knew him loved him and she felt so heartbroken at the only thought that he was going to lose everything._   
_No one deserved to be taken away from his life. From his own certainties. Caroline wouldn’t want to be he one to brake Tom’s dreams and illusions._

_“It’s a long story but You have to trust me. I don’t want to hurt you”_

_“I don’t know you and I’m not feeling well. I want to come back home. Please”_

_It was so clear that that guy was so different from Silas. Silas would have never begged for anything and surely he wouldn’t have hesitated to attack her or even killed her._   
_Tom instead looked so scared and disoriented. It was so obvious that he didn’t trust her and she couldn’t blame him. At his place probably she would have been freaking out already. He was acting in a more controlled way that she would have done._

_“You can’t come back. Please, let me explain you everything and then if you don’t believe me, I promise, I will take you back. Just give me a chance”_

_Tom did, he gave her a chance and turned out to be the worst decision of his life because she failed him._

He was tempted of telling them to screw it each other but he didn’t. He wasn’t a rude person, specially with two ladies. He felt also a certain curiosity toward the two and he took advantage to use his powers again. He wanted to know why they had used specifically two different names.   
Apparently the blond had helped a guy named Enzo to kill this certain Tom Avery who was a Doppelgänger of Silas. Although they had killed him, someone managed to take him back alive and sacrificed him in the end.   
Silas had been killed and defeated by the brunette for revenge.  
So they didn’t have good memories about him too. Or better he didn’t invoke in them good memories.

“Hello ladies. Do I know you ? Well, I guess we’re going to know each other maybe. I’m Stefan, by the way.” he said handed his hand to one of them.

Both of the girls noticed the ring and they gasped. Who was that guy who was was wearing a ring so much similar to Damon’s one ? There wasn’t much similarities with Damon. the guy in front of them was a brunet with forest green eyes and a gentle smile. So different from Damon, from Silas, so similar to Tom and nevertheless he was a vampire and related to all of the three. At least it wasn’t a trap. Caroline and Bonnie still perfectly remembered how much pain Silas had caused in their life, he had killed Jeremy, Matt, Rudy, Bonnie’s father and a lot of other people. A cruel man, a demon, who costed too much.  
Tom on the other hand… he had all his life to live and he got killed because they had been incapable of protecting him as they swore.   
And now the man in front of them was… like a ghost for them. A ghost that seemed to scream at them a lot of bad memories only with his presence.   
Why was the past still tormenting them ? Why couldn’t they move on once and for all ?   
The guy was going to say something else to them, but suddenly he grabbed his head with both his hands.   
His headache was too strong this time, the world around him started to spill around and he felt dizzy and his legs began to tremble.  
 _Suddenly he wasn’t anymore in Mystic Fall, but somewhere dark and cold. He didn’t know if it was only an illusion or it was real, but he was sure he didn’t want to be there. He had the sensation that something terrible was going to happen and in fact…_

_“Hi… Is there anyone there ? Am I still me ? Am I one of them ?”_

_It was a female voice that belonged to someone who was scared, terrified and who was crying but he couldn’t see her face. He could barely see a shadow in the dark, a shape but nothing more. He didn’t even know what she was trying to tell him. What did it mean that she didn’t know of she was still herself ?_

_“Whoever are you… I’m glad you’re here… please… Stay by me… I don’t know… I’m still alive but I’m not myself either… I’m…”_

_The girl began to ramble but he couldn’t get what she exactly was trying to say to him. He tried to came closer to her, to hug her, console her, be nice to her. He maybe wasn’t a good person but he wasn’t a monster either and he was beginning to understand where he was and he felt a fool for not having recognizing it. He was… Oh my God…_

_“There are all those monsters out this door… I tried to run away, to ask for help, but it was too late. It’s too late for be to be helped. I’m a monster too… Please…”_

_He closed his eyes for a moment. Of course there were monsters out of that place, Hell was a place full of monsters and it was hard to say what exactly made you different from them when you were there and remembered all the bad things you’ve done in your life. He reopened his eyes to see that there was a weak light in the room so he could see the girl’s face and he noticed that the tears were running down toward her chocolate skin. And not only._

_“Oh my God…”_

_“Stay with me please… I… Pray with me one more time… In nomine Patris… Et Philis… et Spiritus Santis…”_

_What was happening to her was horrid and he was tempted to look another way but he couldn’t, he couldn’t take his eyes off her. The more she prayed the more she bleed, from everywhere and under her feet a puddle of her own blood stared to form. She began to shuffle toward him , probably to get hold of something before to die. He couldn’t move but he began to prey with her. No one deserved to die like that alone, he could only hope that when his moment would arrive someone would have the same kindness to pray God with him for one last time._   
_The girl’s body fell on the ground, she was too weak to still stand up and she had already lost too much blood._

_“… Et ne nos induras in tentationem; sed libera nos a Malo… Amen…”_

_After those last words, she was completely covered of her blood and it was impossible recognize her face. Before there was too much dark, now too much blood on her face. Whoever she was, she used to be a part of his family because he recognize the silver glitter typical of his bracelet even thought he couldn’t be sure that it was a bracelet or not. What he knew was that he had just seen one of his sister dying in front of his eyes. It was so terrible and also tedious._

_“Réquiem aetérnam dona eis, Dómine, et lux perpétua lúceat eis. Requiéscant in pace…”_

“… Amen…” he whispered.

“Is he praying ?” asked Bonnie to Caroline.

They both were on their knees near the strange guy. Caroline was holding his head while Bonnie held his bag. Younger Salvatore or not, he was a vampire and they couldn’t leave him there. He looked exhausted.

“Call the other… I’m taking him to my home.”

“Why to your house ? Why not in the Salvatore’s Mansion ?”

“If he is who we think, I don’t think he will be happy to wake up in the place where he grew up with his family and who remembered him that he has lost everything, included his older brother.”

“Fine. I call the others. If he’s Damon’s younger brother they need to know the truth too”


	30. Check to the Queen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Elena and the other has never been so close to save Damon, specially now that his younger brother arrived in Mystic Falls, but they also don't know him or his true intentions. At the same time, Sybil is tired to wait for the Bell and choses to take the matter in her hands.

**CHAPTER 30**

  
_“In nomine Patrist… et Filis… Et Spiritus Santis…”_

_The girl was praying, he was praying with her because there was nothing else he could do to her. Nothing else he could do… he was too weak. Hell was literally devouring the girl’s soul in front of him and he couldn’t do anything but scream at her, scream at God because he was letting her dying._   
_How many time had he blamed God for his mistakes ? How many times would he blame Father for his misery ? Who else could he blame ?_   
_He made their lives a living torture, He literally pushed them in the Devil’s arms and there He let them to rot and then punished them. They deserved to be punished because in Hell they looked for the love that God denied them._   
_He was crying and screaming because it was unfair. God turned him in the Devil’s pupil, the Golden ticket of a cursed family. He had forsaken him. Forsaken that girl._   
_It had to be such a good view, seeing your own children struggling for your love, struggling to show who of them was the most devoted. It had to be so entertaining being the one who pulled the strings up, who chose who fell and who survived. People had the curious tendency of forgetting that sometime other’s preys were other’s curses. That others dreams were yours dark nightmares. He didn’t want any of this but it seemed that he was the only one to be punished. It wasn’t fair…_

“It’s not fair… not fair… Father…” he whispered before waking up.

What did happen to him ? The last thing he remember was that he was talking with two girls and then everything became so confusing, he was confused. He was laying on a couch that looked quite familiar but in that moment he couldn’t figure it out when he had seen it last time. At least he had no longer his headache. He felt better but he couldn’t stay there any longer. He had to accomplish his purpose. Talking of that… where was his bag ?

“Stupid headache… “ he whispered.

“It seems you feel better.” said a female voice behind him “Do you feel better right ?”

He looked at her, it was one of the girls who he had met, the blond, Caroline Forbes. Now he also understood why that place, that living room, looked so familiar to him. He had already been there, when he was looking for the Striker and when he tried to find out whether they had informations about Sinner Hunters or not. Maybe he shouldn’t look so calm, it could look suspicious. People who found themselves in strangers’ house, after having lost senses, should make people freaking out, make them feel in danger but he didn’t feel like that. He felt exhausted.

“I’m… exhausted. Did I… I’m sorry… Where I…”

“You should calm down. You fainted and then you began whispering thing. Preys in latin, most of all. Are you so religious ?”

“I have a rosary inside my bag… Can I have it ?” he asked politely.

He felt almost naked without his rosary. It was the most important thing he had, he considered it a sort of shield against the evil fo the world.  
He could hear footsteps of someone who was coming toward him, he turned his head and he saw a tall blond man who held his bag in his hand.  
He felt tempted to snap his neck because he didn’t put it up when other people, specially strangers, took and opened his personal things. Well, he couldn’t do any murderous thing, not if he wanted to get out of that damn house without anyone behind his back.

“We have found it inside your back but it wasn’t the only thing.” the blond man showed him a picture.

He didn’t need to look at it to understand who were portrayed. Two young man dressed up like two men of the nineteenth century who were hugging and smiling, as they had anything to worry about. They were free, happy and full of prosecutions expectations from their both lives.

“Did you have to open up my bag ? Couldn’t you do your own business ?”

He didn’t want to be rude, specially with two people who had chosen to help him instead of living him on a sidewalk all alone and senseless, but he didn’t put it up well with rudeness. They could have asked for his permission before to open his bag.

“You should be more grateful since we have helped you” reproved him Caroline.

“I’m grateful. This doesn’t imply that you were allowed to spy into my bag. That picture means nothing. Just a memento of my past. I’m Stefan by the way”

“So… Are you Damon’s boyfriend ?”

“Do you know Damon ? I’m here to look for my brother. Damon’s my brother… I have to go…”

He stood up from the couch and wore his shoes but then he felt dizzy again and he risked to fell on the floor again. Caroline and Alaric grabbed him by his arms and helped him to sit on the couch.   
The two blonds shared a look that meant that they should call Elena as soon as possible. She deserved to know that her future brother in law was there in their living room and that he was in Mystic Falls to look for Damon.

“It… It was for him that I was screaming… I’ve been dreaming of him for the past few weeks… Nightmares where he died and I could do anything to save him. I know what it means… I have to… please let me go…”

“You’re absolutely in no conditions of going anywhere. You can barely standing up !” exclaimed Caroline “How long haven’t you eaten ?”

“It’s not your business. Please let me go…”

He began to cry and to try to use all his strength to get free of them but his dizziness was too strong. Anyway he couldn’t stay there, he had to get out of there. All those setbacks was making him irritated. Caroline and Alaric didn’t know what to do, they didn’t expect that he would begin to cry like a child although it was totally understandable. His brother was in danger, he have been dreaming Damon dying, he was in the town where he was born without recognizing it, surrounded by strangers. Caroline was tempted of braking his neck to make him stay calm but she doubted that it would be the best way to began a friendship. He was already pissed enough with them for having invaded his privacy, they didn’t need to irritate him any longer.  
Alaric was less positive than her. It was too strange for him that Damon was in danger and suddenly his younger brother appeared in Mystic Falls ready to save him. Maybe after all that time he became paranoid but there was something strange. That guy… had something strange and he hated not knowing wha.   
‘He doesn’t trust me, lovely. I don’t want to wast more time. I have to get out of here. They can’t find the Striker and the journal before he find the other piece of the Bells or the blond man would have thought that he was involved somehow.   
Also he could feel that Sybil was close, really close.

“She’s here… I can feel her presence… Sybil… She’s here…” he said getting free.

“How can you possible know that ?”

“I’m a Sinner Hunter and she’s like me. We can feel when someone like us is near. Mystic Falls is her Hunting territory, she commands here”

“Mystic Falls is nothing like that and we are not your preys”

“Do you think Devil cares ? He orders we obey. There’s nothing else we can do. I have to find Damon before the twenty-four hours expire or my vision will happen.”

Before Caroline and Alaric could say or do something else he grabbed his bag and ran toward the door. He opened it and slammed it against the wall. Caroline and Alaric followed him but suddenly they noticed that there was the fog out there. The same fog that used to announce Damon’s arrival during the first period they knew him. The boy, Stefan, was right. If Damon was nearby it meant that Sybil was there as well.   
It was difficult seeing through the fog and Caroline feared to have lost him, so she decided to pick the phone and call the other and asked them to come over there.   
The fog began to spread, so Caroline and Alaric could see clearly Sybil and Damon coming toward them and Stefan running toward them.

“What did you do to him ? Manipulating him once wasn’t enough ?” asked him furiously.

“It’s not my fault if you have an idiot for brother. I didn’t need to use him but you know, I’m a cruel person, and it is so much fun this way.”

“Seriously ? I’m in this fuck of situation because you wanted to have another life, a better life. How do you dare tell me that you consider all of this fun ?” asked Stefan.

“Hello brother ! If I can still consider you this way. Aren’t you happy to see me ?” asked Damon with his usual arrogance.

Caroline couldn’t see Stefan’s expression because he turned his back, but she noticed that hist posted had become stiff for the only exception of his hands that were shaking. It was clear that he despised Sybil as much as them did. It had to be hard to accept that you had sacrificed your soul, your happiness, your life for your brother only to see him imprisoned over again. Caroline could only imagine how terrible had been Stefan’s life, alone, without anyone at his side, being persecuted and used by the Devil.   
She felt terribly sorry for him.  
Alaric instead looked at the scene curious but also worried. He had still a lot to learn about Sinner Hunter and he was reluctant to believe to everything the boy told to them. Was true that Hunters could feel each other presence ? Or it was an excuse to justify Sybil’s arrival near their house ? Specially in the exactly moment when the boy was with them ?

“I missed you so much Damon. Why are you here ? What are you doing ?”

“Oh no one better than you should know this, Stefan. When the Devil calls you have to answer and once he devours your soul you cannot escape… you belong to him… That night he bitten me, I have belonged to him since then, both of us” answered Damon losing part of his arrogance to leave place to his bitterness.

“Let him go, let him go and do not try to touch him again !”

“You’re no in position of fighting me. You’re a simple Hunter and you know it. You cannot compete with me and you won’t have your dumb brother back until you won’t give what I want”

“The bell ? Should I give to you the only weapon strong enough to send your anorexic ass right in Hell ?”

“You’re late for this honey. I ordered to that bunch of losers to take the Bell for me. It’s the only thing they can do if they want to save Damon and if they want me to brake the sleeping spell I put on Enzo”

“Who’s Enzo ?”

‘God, not now’ Caroline thought. The blond had to admit that Sybil was clever. She knew what spots to hit to hurt her adversaries the most.   
Stefan had spent his whole life alone and surely he wouldn’t be glad to find out that his brother had replaced him with someone else. Because Damon considered Enzo like that, a sort of younger brother and she could only imagine how it would sound unfair to Stefan.

“He’s my new little brother… A perfect replacement of you… young, naive, rebellious… he shares qualities with both somehow” answered Damon challenging the other. Their foreheads could almost touch each other. “And yet I chose him over you”

Stefan got rigid again and he didn’t know what to say or do. He surely expected a lot of scenarios about his meeting with Damon, other less appealing than others, but never something like that.   
Apparently not only he had overrated Damon’s love for his younger brother, but he also had formulated this foolish and wrong idea of being irreplaceable. Apparently it was true that no one was essential and that everyone could be replaced, even your own sibling. What a cruel world to live in.   
Anyway Damon couldn’t brake his heart, no one could brake his heart because there wasn’t an heart to brake in the first place. He had become cold, insensible, cruel in his own way and impassible.

“You’ve always been so dimwitted, brother. Insulting the person who has in his hands your safety. Always slave of your passions and ego. You would have been a perfect hunter and still… Devil didn’t consider your soul appropriate. You can only worked as a sort of handyman, in charge of doing everything, yet incapable of doing a great deal. If I were you I would shut up”

Alaric and Caroline were impressed. Apparently it was a family’s trait having a poisoning tongue. Not a bad thing since Damon could be pretty cruel, actually too much cruel when he wanted to be.

“Oh… don’t be so harsh with him, love. He’s capable of a lot of stuff. Specially when I manipulate his mind. He’s a perfect slave and surely he won’t need help to die if you don’t lieve this town and let the other give the Bell to me”

“I’m going to find it first and I will use it against to you. Brother or not, I know that Damon is your prisoner only to spite me, because it was the only way to drag me here, but we two have a pending account and trust me, you’re not going to win twice.” said Stefan pointing a finger toward Sybil.

“So are you not going to obey to me ? Go for it. I’m not going to stop you. I will simply laugh at you when you realize that your stubbornness and your constancy are simply so vane, so hellish vane”

Then she went away before Stefan could reply, Damon gave the other a little push, a gesture of contempt and anger that promised other pain and suffering to a person who instead he would have to love, perhaps more than himself.   
If situations had been different, Caroline would have justified Damon’s behave with the fact that he was controlled by Sybil, instead he had abandoned his younger brother for who knew how many years. He couldn’t be justified, there were no excuses.   
Suddenly the fog came back and wrapped them all and it was impossible seeing anything.  
When it disappeared, Sybil, Damon and Stefan were gone, with their lies, their secrets and a promise of revenge from both of the parts.

…

He was smiling, really smiling. He still was empty handed but not for much longer. He indicated to that useless bunch of marionettes the right path to follow and it wasn’t a mere shake of break crumbs. No, they would follow him after that. He was the only clue they have to find the Bells and save Damon. It didn’t matter if the blond man had suspicious about him, he would have been disappointed if otherwise. He would get bored, too much bored.   
He was there for a mission but what he saw no sin into a little fun. He needed them as much as they needed him. For the moment at least.  
He had found the Striker and he had used it, turned it in what could be more advantageous in his position. They would find it and he would have the Staff in his hand.   
They would see a situation of equality. He had the Staff, them the Striker.   
It didn’t matter who belonged it, not anymore.  
He came back to the cemetery, in the Salvatore Crypt, where he knew he would find the last piece he needed to open another Crypt.   
Seline had been a very nasty girl and also very cynical and spiteful. She had hidden the Staff inside a Crypt which door could be opened only with four emblems that represents the four natural elements: Air, Earth, Water and Fire.   
Sybil found the emblem of the water in a wreck on the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, probably it represented the first ship that Seline had fun to destroy by sending it to kiss the abyss.   
Another emblem, the emblem of Fire, was found always but the Former Queen of Devil in the Hell itself under the nose of the King of Hell.  
Seline hided in the Red Fireplace, so it was called the great building inside the Hell where it was originated all the Hellfire.  
The emblem of Earth was found by another Hunter who didn’t immediately realize the importance of that object and who almost sold it in change of gold.   
He had no idea what had happened to that Hunter when Cade found it out, surely he wasn’t alive anymore.  
The emblem of Air instead was found by Cade, no one knew how or when, what matter was that he gave it to Sybil, asking to her to hide it. So that He would be the first to open the Crypt with the Staff inside.  
Unfortunately for the King of Devil, when he left Sybil heartbroken, his beloved wife stole all the other emblems and put them on the Crypt’s door, for the only exception of the one hidden by her then she used a spell to forget the hideout.  
What probably not even the Queen of Hell remembered was that she had written the place on a piece of paper and gave it to a “friend” for the emergency.   
A smart plan, really. Perfect in every details, perfect to decide even the Devil itself since Cade couldn’t enter in her mind to know something she could’t remember herself in the first place.   
Well, He knew that the last emblem was hidden inside the Salvatore Crypt. Why ?  
Because Stefan Salvatore has been the key for her freedom and so would be the Staff. Like a sort of circle, a return to the principle.   
Fortunately this time there was anyone in the cemetery, he was completely alone an it would semplificate his job.   
He entered inside the Salvatore Crypt and then he began to look for the emblem.

...

Elena was feeling a confusing mix of feelings in that moment, sat beside Matt’s care while he was driving to Alaric and Caroline’s house. Bonnie was sitting behind them but she looked lost in her own thoughts too.  
Elena was feeling angry toward Caroline and Ric for having lost Stefan Salvatore, she felt furious because over again Sybil showed Damon like a sort of trophy of her victory.   
The brunette could imagine that harpy while she was smiling in all her arrogance, while she was manipulating Damon’s mind, trying to put the two brothers against each other because she considered it fun.  
Elena couldn’t consider her a decent person, not after the things she had done. Her hands were dirty of blood too and for now it was the only excuse she had to justify her wish to kill that nasty woman.   
In the end she didn’t know how to deal with Stefan Salvatore, specially now that there was no doubt about his existence, specially now that she was sure that Damon had been lying to her since the begin, that he had cut her off from an important part of his life. She knew that Damon had an highly developed survival istinto but she didn’t imagine that it was so strong to push away even his own brother.   
Caroline told her about their dialogue and the way Damon treated Stefan.   
Maybe she was too stubborn and naive about who she still considered her boyfriend, but she wanted to believe that Damon behaved that way because Sybil was manipulating him.   
She needed to hold on something in moment like that.

“Can you tell me again how did he look like ?” she asked to both Bonnie and Matt since they had met Stefan already.

“Well… He’s a Silas’ Doppelgänger. So… You know… Physically he’s like him…” Matt began bubbling about the topic because he wasn’t at ease.

“He seemed polite and kind. Also very religious, when he fainted he began to whisperer something, prays in latin and he had a rosary around his wrist. Caroline took him inside his house, instead I couldn’t stay with him. he remembered me too much of both Silas and Tom.”

Silas killed her father, Tom died because of her. It was too hard for her to stay in the same room with that guy. Looking him in the face only to see someone else, someone who she hated and someone who she failed. Maybe it was cowardice, but letting Caroline take care of him was a good thing in her mind and she didn’t care if other didn’t approve it. After all she went through and the loss, no one could blame her that little act of selfishness of her.   
That was also why she didn’t know what to say to Elena about him. There wasn’t much to say, no one of them knew him, no one of them was prepared to know him so suddenly.   
At that point it didn’t matter anymore, they needed Stefan and he needed them. Fortunately they had a common foe, but Stefan knew what to do to defeat Sybil, they didn’t.  
Bonnie was so focused on her own thoughts that Matt had to call her twice before she realized that they were arrived in front of Caroline and Ric’ house and that Elena was already walking, almost running toward the door.   
Elena almost jumped out from the car when they arrived, she knew that she wouldn’t find Stefan inside but maybe he had left something, a clue that could help them to find him. She almost arrived to the door when it suddenly opened and Caroline and Ricin’s went out.

“We know where he’s going. Here. We have found something important written behind this picture. It is written by a particular ink that was why we didn’t noticed it” said Caroline.

Elena almost gasped when she saw the picture of Damon and Stefan together.   
Her boyfriend was so beautiful in that picture, even if beautiful wasn’t the kind of compliment suitable for a man but it was the only thing that came in her mind.   
She had never seen him smiling that way, not so sincerely, not so freely or genuinely. Would he ever smile like that again ? She hoped he would.  
She turned the photo and she saw something written on it.

‘Transparent as the water,   
always present and yet you do not see me,   
sometimes I whisper but my faint voice can not speak ... sometimes I'm clear other times I keep you from seeing even your own figure  
The emblem that represents me lies next to the one who doesn’t need me  
Whose seed is still blooming  
but that does not require my kiss  
Find me’

“Is it a riddle ? I don’t have time for this !” said Elena.

“Elena, it’s the solution. The riddle’s solution is the Air, so we should look for the emblem of Air. Which according to the second part of this riddle is in the Salvatore Crypt” explained Alaric

“In the Salvatore Crypt ? Why ?”

“The emblem that represents me lies next to the one who doesn’t need me… Everyone needs air to live expect the dead ones. The seed could represent the pedigree, which indicates Damon and Stefan and they don’t need air because they’re vampire” answered Caroline.

“Elementary, if you are still in the mood to get this joke. We should move” said Alaric.

“I agree. Whatever is its use, it’s clear that Stefan needs this emblem. Finding the emblem we would find him too. Let’s go”

…

It hadn’t been easy found the emblem. It had been hidden very well, inside the tomb Giuseppe Salvatore, more specifically in the middle of the chest, where the lungs once resided and allowed Giuseppe to breath.   
He didn’t care to brake Giuseppe’s bones, the dear old dad didn’t deserve all this carefulness by him. He didn’t own nothing to that man.  
Now he had all the emblem. The Crypt where the Staff was, was hidden by a secret passage under the altar of Mystic Falls Church. He had no idea how Seline could have done all of this, surely she was helped by someone, a friend or someone who was under her control since he highly doubted that she could have any friends.   
Sybil used to be the Queen of Hell but it was Seline who had pushed her little adopted sister right in the arm of the Devil himself so she definitely couldn’t be the kind of person someone wanted to be friend of.

“Surely I would have avoided her like the plague…” he whispered while he was using magic to move the altar and reveal a manhole where the other three emblems had already been positioned.

He put the last emblem there and suddenly at the center of the manhole appeared an handle. He grabbed it and the he smirked.  
‘I finally find you love…’ he thought licking his lips. He grabbed the Staff in his hands and examined it. At one first look it didn’t look nothing special, just a piece of metal, worthless, but he knew it wasn’t true.   
That piece of metal was the key to get what he wanted, at least for the moment.   
The hunt had just began maybe the last hunt of his life. It was even more exciting despite his weariness and the constant feeling of suffocating in a skin he didn’t now want wear anymore. He had been living into a constant apnea for too long, now he wanted to breath, he wanted to live this whole nightmare behind his back. But he would never forget and surely he would never forgive.  
He wasn’t God, he didn’t own forgiveness to anyone. He made just one step out of the Church when he suddenly felt a strong sensation of danger around him. He smirked again.  
The Queen was making her next move and she was going to attack, interesting.   
He would better move if he wanted to save the guys. He was sure that they would have managed to guess the riddle he left behind the photograph.   
No one would have never forgotten for real an important memento of better times if there wasn’t another reason. He organized the perfect scenario, perfect to give both of them what they wanted. More or less. Now the show must go on.

…

Elena knew that something was wrong since the first step she mad inside the cemetery. Apparently everything was the same from when she left the place, but she knew better than trusting the appearances.   
The other seemed to share her same opinion.   
There was too much silence in the cemetery and the fog came back and it was almost impossible seeing everything. They had to be careful if they didn’t want trip over something.   
Elena had already entered inside Salvatore Crypt, that was why she couldn’t understand the fear inside her heart at the thought of entering inside it this time. Like if there was a sort of trap inside it.

“Somehow it looks different…” she whispered.

“I don’t think he’s still inside there. We’re late” said Caroline.

“Or maybe he hasn’t arrived yet. Maybe we could still find the emblem” said Bonnie entering inside the Crypt.

“We don’t even know its use. What if is a dark object that hurts the person who holds it at the first touch ?” asked Matt turning on his torch.

“Have you been watching too much Harry Potter these days ?” asked Elena.

“I’ve been living too much in a town plagued by supernatural.” answered the blond with harsh tone.

Caroline rolled her eyes. She knew that deep down, inside that sentence, it was implied her with all the supernatural that plagued Mystic Falls. It hurt a lot.  
Matt didn’t look at her as he used to anymore. He despised her and the ones like her, she could feel it from how he looked or actually not look at her. Like she could be someone he was happy to spend his time with.   
She couldn’t blame him despite anything but she wished things could be how they used to.   
Elena entered in Crypt and again she had that strong tedious sensation that something wasn’t how it was supposed to be. Something inside that place told her that they weren’t going to find what they were looking for, that someone else had been there already and that they should go away.   
‘I’m losing my mind… I’m becoming paranoid…’ she thought.  
Alaric was going to enter inside the Crypt when he heard something, like a little branch that went broken. It was a weak sound but he was an hunter and his senses were always on the lookout.

“We have company…” he whispered turning around.

The other imitated him and then they saw Sybil who was smirking at them with Damon at her side.   
Elena would never get accostumate with that tedious view. The view of her boyfriend at the side of another woman who was manipulating him like a puppet.  
She hated that woman and she hated that Sybil looked to be always thousands steps ahead of them every time.   
Sybil smirked, knowing that she had gained another point. Cade taught her how to play with chess until she became good enough to beat the Devil himself. No one couldn’t compete with her and her power.   
She had been controlling the decisions of all of them since the first moment she arrived in Mystic Falls, she studied them, observed them, she understood their weaknesses. They had no secrets for her.

“Get on your knees and accept your fate. You’re not going to see the down I swear” Sybil said.

“I would cut my legs off rather than get on my knees. You’re not a Queen, you’re just a pawn on the devil’s chessboard” said Elena.

“Oh, don’t tempt me, dear ! I easily get tempted and I long for a long time to pinch that fine glint between my fingers” said Sybil.

She grabbed Damon by his face and then she began to kiss him and bitted him on the lips so strong to make him bleed. Elena tried to ran toward them but Alaric and Matt grabbed her by her arms. It wasn’t wise doing harsh moves, not now. Now against an enemy so dangerous.   
He hadn’t found anything strong enough to defeat a Siren and the hadn’t found the Bell yet.   
Sybil had the upper hand and they had one foot in their grave.

“I said… get on your knees… The Queen has just made her move…”

Suddenly all of them fell on ground, on their knees and their bodies didn’t obey them anymore. They obey to Sybil, they were at her mercy and this was making her laugh.   
’So weak… So pathetic… They all deserves to burn down in Hell…’ she thought.   
Then she began to sing. It was more like a scream, the notes were higher and higher, so loud that all the tombstones began to tremble, some of them were even crumbling un thousand pieces. The ground started to tremble and everything on the ground began to levitate.   
All their body began to tremble for the pain. It was like there were being stabbed by thousand daggers in one time, as all their organs was becoming too big to remain inside their body, as they had something deep down their throat that prevented them from breathing.   
In their hearts there was no place for love, or hope, or happiness anymore. Everything they could feel was bitterness, sadness, defeat, fear… pain. They could no longer remember the joyful moments they had shared with people they loved and lost, only their deaths, only their loss.   
The began to cry tears of blood and their knees were too weak to prevent them from falling completely on the ground. They began to tremble completely.

“Now… you tried to deceive me… You only had to do one thing for me. Now stay there, my darlings and look to your friend dying”

Damon got on his knees and then Sybil grabbed him by his neck and she was going to kill him but suddenly she felt something.  
Her skin began to burn, or better, she felt like she was burning alive.

“What the…”

“Check… my queen…”

Sybil turned around but then Stefan touched her with the Staff and then she began to scream.

“Oh… who has the upper hand now ? My queen… you lost”

Then he hit her so heard to make her lose her sense.


	31. Answers and Lies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How did it feel seeing again your family after being abandoned ?  
> How did it feel meeting again blood of your blood ? Flesh of your flesh ?   
> He really didn’t know how to answer…

CHAPTER 31

  
Sybil hated the place where she was in that moment. She remembered when she had been there the first time. A witch Beatrice Bennet was looking for them after Seline sirene Ethan Maxwell to steal the Bell. It was thank to that trap that in the end Sybil found and killed Seline but if it wasn’t for her husband she would have remained trapped herself in that awful place.   
Her head still hurt after that hit and she wouldn’t be surprised to find a bump.   
It was in moment like that that she missed being the Queen of Hell, when people who knew her name tremble at the only thought of her, when she dominated over any soul who walked on that ground, when her power was without any limits.   
She looked at the ring around her finger and she almost instinctively kissed it with her lips, ignoring that a pair of eyes, dark as night, were looking at her.

“Do you miss him ?”

She raised her gaze and she smiled.  
Of course he would come there to visit her. His beloved child, his beautiful knight, his loyal friend. The light of her eyes.

“Henrik… I’m so glad to see you here” she said getting up and coming closer to the glass “Isn’t dangerous for you being here ? They may see you”

“Don’t underestimate me, or their stupidity.”

“I just worry for you”

Henry smiled at the Queen of his heart.   
Love had been cruel with him, because it made him infatuated with his ‘mother’, the woman who had stolen his heart. He could be infatuated of thousand other girls but Sybil was his… she was the one for him. He gave her everything he could give to another person and then she brake his heart.   
He knew that she saw when he looked at the ring, he knew her thoughts even without using telepathy and it hurt, it hurt like Hell.

“Are you disappointed ?” asked Henry.

“Disappointment comes with expectations. I know he won’t come for me.”

“And still you cherish him as I cherished you”

“And him. You love me but you love him too. Don’t deny it”

Henry was going to answer but he remained silent and he bitten his lower lip not to risk to tell something compromising on him. Sybil was wrong, that was what he had chosen to believe in.   
Acceptance wasn’t something he had to pursuit if he could ignore it easily. There was only one thing he had to consider and it was that he could still use Cade, manipulate him through sex and promise of submission.   
Sybil smiled with kindness and she wished she could caress him on the cheek.   
It was so incredible and stunning how Cade managed to become the center of their lives, he went so down in their skin and became the essence itself of all their lives.   
He was… The God of their own Hell and Sybil accepted it, she had to, to survive.   
Stockholm Syndrome, one of the most efficient measure of self defense. The prisoner bonded with his executioner and create a relationship of affection, a connection between the two strong, deep and sometimes unbreakable.  
If it happen, you lived, if not, you died. Sybil used to be naive but not a fool.   
Henry was exactly like her. Victim and prisoner of the same web of lies, tricks and love.   
Between them a silence made of kiss under stars, of crossed fingers when their body danced together a choreography of kisses, scratches, hugs, moans, sometimes even slaps. For Henry, a desired not turned off yet, for Sybil, the sweet caress of a lover that couldn’t give her more than what she needed.

“I have to go. I’m sure you won’t feel my missing.”

“Don’t be the way. One broken heart is enough”

“Maybe not. The fun is not over yet, my dear”

Then he disappeared and Sybil knew he was angry with her. May she talked too much but she wanted to believe to still have the luxury of being sincere with Henrik, not matter how deep her words could offend him or hit his pride.  
She lay down on bed and decided to sleep a little, it wasn’t like she had other options and she was feeling tired, really tired.   
‘A good rest is exactly what I need.”

…

He had to admit that it had been a long time since the last time he was surrounded by so many people who were scrutinizing him like he was a sort of new specie of animal. Something that didn’t even now to exit until a moment ago.   
He didn’t feel at easy, at all and knowing their thoughts about him wasn’t helping.  
‘I can’t believe that he exists and Damon’s never told me anything about him’ - Elena.  
‘I don’t want to look at him, it hurts, like Hell. Why didn’t he born with another face ? When I look at him all I see is my father dead’ - Bonnie  
‘I hope he will turn out to be more like Tom and not Silas’ - Caroline.  
‘I don’t trust him. He has something that isn’t convincing me’ - Alaric.  
‘I hope that he will be the last Silas’ Doppelgänger I meet and in this life’ - Matt.  
Apparently the blond cop wasn’t a fan of supernatural and the hunter was the one he should keep an eye on it.   
It was clear that although they held different opinion they were united as ground, probably due to all live or die situations they’ve been through together. He was the one in disadvantage and he had to be careful about what he said, the way he behaved, the way he talked about Damon.  
Damon was one of them, he wasn’t.   
For the first time, Damon was the one with the group ready to protect him.

“Please, can you all stop to look at me like that ? I don’t feel at ease.” he asked politely.

“Sorry… Damon has never said a word about you. Seeing you makes real the fact that he cut me off from a part of his life” said Elena.

“Don’t blame him. He was just trying to move on, to have a better life for himself.” he said trying to excuse him.

“Himself. That’s the point.” she grumbled with a grudge.

“Well, I think that you will have all the time to reprove Damon later. For the moment. I wish to know what is it ?” asked Alaric grabbing the Staff.

“It’s what I was looking for before. It’s a powerful object that can defeat a Siren” he explained.

“A Siren ? I thought she was a Sinner Huntress like you” said Bonnie.

“Not exactly. I don’t know all the story, I’m the youngest of Sinner Hunter and the other are still reluctant to trust me also because we are not allowed to be together. What I can say is that Sybil has been turned into a Siren when she married Cade, also known as the Devil”

“Wait… did she tell the truth when she said that she was the Queen ? Are you kidding me ?” asked Caroline.

The other were looking at him with wide eyes. Apparently the fact aha a beautiful and appealing woman like Sybil could have been the Devil’s bride was inconceivable for them. Or maybe they were in denial of the fact that Sybil could be a more dangerous enemy than they had supposed.   
They should understand now how dangerous she could be, before it was too late. Sybil had a pretty face and unfortunately for them it made her even more lethal.   
She could make men fall in love with her, she saw the darkness inside their heart and it made them believe that it was everything they need to conquer her and for a moment she actually gave them her heart in their hands. She allowed them to touch it, to hold it into their hands, a little taste to be desired for the eternity by them. She dragged them into an ocean of lust and passion that consumed their mind and took them to madness.  
Only a fool would underestimate her… the trick of her eyes…

“Didn’t you notice the silver ring around her finger ? It symbolized a promise, a vote of love and devotion between the Devil and his life and we Hunters are his children”

“Children ? What are you ? An unholy family ?” asked Matt skeptical.

“We can use this definition. One of the mother’s duty is to give children to her husband. Sybil’s always been the one in charge of procuring Hunters to Cade.”

“What criteria does she use to choose you ? Why you ? Why Damon ?” asked Elena.

“I don’t know her criteria, as I mentioned there isn’t much communication between me and the other hunters. I don’t even think that she had some when she picked me. She just wanted to be free of Hell so my bet is that she had chose someone at random. Cade’s interest in me only made thing easier for her”

“So let me get that right, Sybil chose to sell Damon but Cade preferred you over him instead ?” asked Bonnie confused.

“Devil love marking good people with his darkness. He believed that the great darkness can only born from the true goodness. Damon wasn’t pure enough for him. I was and I didn’t hesitate to make a deal with him to save my brother. It was the only thing to do.”

“So you have been killing people for him since that moment, ah ?” asked Matt with disgust and the tone of voice of someone who was judging him.

‘I wish I can kill you in this moment you worthless hum… No…’ he bitten his lower lip. He shouldn’t have this thoughts, they were dangerous, they could push him doing something dangerous, they could make him losing his tempter. He could almost hear Cade’s laugh near him and he found it so detestable.   
He limited himself to narrow his eyes and ignore the blond and his arrogance.  
The other, specially Caroline, understood that Stefan hadn’t appreciated that comment and she couldn’t blame him. No one appreciated to be judged by strangers who knew nothing about their life.

“I’m going to tell you something that can help you to sleep at night, since you are so sensitive. The people I kill are monsters, as I am. Thieves, frauds, murderers, serial killers, serial rapists, cannibals, believe me, the list is long a lot. I’m not saying that I’m better than all of them, only that you shouldn’t feel sorry for them. Also they were all humans, I suggest you to think about this too” he concluded with a little blink.

“What do you mean ?” asked Matt harshly.

“No one is turned into a monster, he just becomes the monster inside himself. Sorry if I’m dragging you down from your high pedestal but it’s the truth” then he smirked victorious.

Matt was tempted to stand up and push that tedious guy right in the face and he was going to do it but Alaric stopped him.   
The other chose to ignore this moment. They wouldn’t go anywhere if they kept fighting.

“If no one else of you lack of good manners I suggest to talk about more useful topics, one of them is the Bell. The Staff is one of the pieces, strong enough to stop a Siren, not strong enough to kill one of them or to defeat the Devil”

“How can you say that the Devil will come here in Mystic Falls ?” asked Bonnie.

“Cade is greedy and he considers bad people a plague to be eliminated from the face of the Earth. The Hell is agitated which means that the King is planning something much bigger. Sybil is only the first sign he sent here to advertise that Mystic Falls will be wrapped by Hellfire.”

“Bullshit !! Come on, he wants to make us to believe that the Devil’s going to be our problem too because he knows he can’t face him alone !! He’s just saying us a lot of bullshit !!” screamed Matt.

“Matt, you should calm yourself down. You don’t even know him, you shouldn’t be so full of prejudices” said Bonnie.

“I’m not overreacting ! People are dying and he only justifies himself by telling that Devil is using him. It’s absurd, if he really wanted to be saved he would have found a way !” he shouted.

“I’ve tried. You dumbass. You know nothing and maybe you can keep this way. I’m going away, apparently I’m not welcomed here”

“No, no please, without you we can’t…”

Elena began to beg him to sway but he ignored her and everyone else. They were only snotty little brats who thought to have understood everything about the world but in his opinion they were only ignorant cretins and if he wanted to do something significant it was the moment to come back to work alone.

“If you want to know something, interrogate Sybil, never without the Staff. She’s not used to lose so she will talk. I’m going to find the other part of the Bell, on my own. If someone with a bran is determinate to help me and defeat the Siren and her husband once and for all he or she is free of joining me”

Caroline was the first who stood up and followed him out of the Armory, while Elena began to shout against Matt and Bonnie and Alaric tried to calm her.   
Caroline had to admit that she was impressed by the younger Salvatore, somehow he told to Matt exactly what she wanted to say, always.   
She understood Matt and respected his pain but he couldn’t talk down any supernatural creatures without even knowing their background.   
He looked at her curiously and then he felt relief that she was the only one who seemed willing to join him. He didn’t want to be surrounded by more than one ignorant cretin in that moment.   
They weren’t saint, he could feel their sins, he knew all the horrible things they have done because of their selfish purpose, because people die because of their bad decisions and they couldn’t live with their own responsibilities. He hated them already, all of them.

“You said that the Bell is composed by two parts. One of them is the Staff, how many other parts we have to find ? What are they ?” asked Caroline.

“There’s just another part. The Striker but I have no idea where to find it.”

The two of them got out from the Armory and Caroline offered Stefan a passage since he didn’t have a car. He put his bag on his knees and opened it.   
He had left a copy of Maxwell’s journal inside the garage, but he knew that they needed more clues to know exactly where to look.  
So he grabbed some shattered papers inside his bag.   
‘My dear God… the things that I have to do…’.

“On these papers are written the only clues I have about the Striker. Apparently the Bell had been built by Maxwell family and enchanted by a Bennet witch, Beatrice, who wanted revenge again the Devil because he had ordered the destruction of her coven. She has been the first witch strong enough to trap a Siren inside the Vault”

“Sybil ?” asked Caroline.

“Probably her sister, Seline. For what I can say, Cade would have never let his bride trapped inside the armor. He needed her. She was the one who procured him new Hunters every year. Anyway, Maxwell got corrupted by the Sirens and in the end the Bell got destroyed and thrown in the lake under the Wickery Bridge in 1992. That is everything I know”

He looked at the blond girl and he was surprised by the lack of replays from her. He wasn’t used to interact with other people and he always considered girls talkative, a lot. It didn’t happen rarely that he heard men complaining about their wives and girlfriend bubbling about things all day.   
Apparently girls had changed. It was a good thing. He wondered how much of the world had changed, how much he missed of it.   
He shouldn’t lose himself in this worthless thoughts, specially now that his headache was finally over.

“You said the Wickery Bridge ah ?” asked Caroline.

“Yes, why ?”

Caroline couldn’t be absolutely sure and usually she didn’t pay a lot of attention to her mother’s job, not even after her transformations except when it regarded supernatural staff, but she remembered that her mother retrieved a bell inside the lake. She found it when the police force pulled out Grayson and Miranda Gilbert’s car from the river.  
When Elizabeth Force died, Matt had been kind to box all there belongings because she didn’t have the heart to go thought her mother’s stuff. That was another reason why all the boxes were still inside her garage closed.   
How high could the possibility be that it was the same bell ?

“Maybe I know where to find the Striker. I hope I’m right.”

“I’ve never seen the bell personally. So I can’t say how it looks like so I’m open to any idea of yours”

“Good, I just hope not to be wrong” she said.

…

Elena, Alaric and Bonnie were determinate to talk alone with the Siren, with or without Matt, who just went away almost soon after Stefan and Caroline.   
If Matt disliked the younger Salvatore he couldn’t have made it more explicit. Well, they didn’t have time to deal with his bad mood, there was an evil woman who owned them a lot of explanations and who would do better to get free Enzo of his sleeping spell and Damon from her manipulation.  
The Siren had just woken up when she heard their footsteps.   
She rolled her eyes, then she sat on the bed and passed an hand through her hair, trying to comb them somehow, to look in order but her clothes were messy too and those people weren’t someone she cared to look pretty for.

“Good afternoon ladies and gentleman. Did miss me already ?”

“Spare us your bullshits. We are for answers” said Alaric.

“And we have this !” said Elena showing the Staff “So don’t even think about doing harsh moves”

“What have you done to Enzo ?” asked Bonnie.

“Just a sleeping spell. I promised to give him back to you in change of your word, but I knew that you were going to disappoint me deeply. You didn’t even try to look for the bell, did you ?” asked Sybil with a little smirk.

“You’re the psychic, you have the answers. We want ours” answered Bonnie “What have you done to Enzo ?”

“In anticipation of your eventual failure, I also anticipated your punishment. It had to be a sort of incentive for pushing you to find the Bell for me as soon as possible but evidently the British biscuit wasn’t worth enough for you all”

“How do you dare you…”.

Bonnie wanted to tell to that woman to go to Hell but she refrained herself from doing it.   
Sybil smirked as usual when she knew to have hit a soft spot.

“He’s not going to wake up soon, I can swear. Not until I will have the bell.” she giggled but she came back serious after few seconds “What is your impression about Stefan ? Isn’t he kinder and smarter than Damon ? I bet that now you’re going to regret to have wasted so much time on the wrong Salvatore”

Elena knew she was talking to her and she felt the anger grow inside her chest. Sybil knew nothing about her and her feelings, she knew nothing.  
‘Keep repeating it… We both know that I can see you’.  
Elena looked at Sybil stunned. She didn’t imagine it, Sybil talked to her through her head. Sybil could read her mind, she knew her deepest secrets, her deepest desire. She knew things about Elena that the burned didn’t know herself and Elena had never felt so weak.  
It didn’t matter that Sybil was imprisoned inside the Armory, they all were still her prisoners, their minds belonged to her too and the fear that she could manipulate them was nothing they would be better not to ignore.

“I know what you hide inside your heart. I know you all. This is why I had the upper hand, until now at least. The younger Salvatore holds a no indifferent grudge against me. He blames me to have ruined his life. I should have expected that he was going to trick me. Hateful boy”

“You sentenced him to an existence of slave of Devil. You definitely should have expected it !” said Bonnie “Why them ? Why Damon and Stefan ?”

“There’s no a particularly reason, just one motivation. I’m a cruel woman, I’m the heartless bride of Devil. One night I was swimming into a lake and suddenly I felt a strong source of evil near me and another source, splendid, full of light and innocence. They were Damon and Stefan and I had spent the rest of the night spying them, studying them. I want to know how two siblings could be so different and somehow I saw myself in Stefan. Then I knew…” She said looking at the ring.

The place were she was locked up inside was the Armory, it was a place full of darkness and power and she was thankful for wearing her ring.   
The ring, if used properly, could not only absorb sins, but also any source of power around you and then gave it to its owner. The ring was absorbing, slowly, the power inside her cell. She had only conquer more time before she would be strong enough to escape. Also, she wanted to tell the story to the guys. They needed to know how everything began and how important Stefan was for Cade’s plans.   
They had no idea who they were fighting against and if she wanted her planes to be accomplished they would need to survive.

“… I knew that one of them could be the key for obtaining back my freedom. Stefan actually. He has a great powers inside him and Cade wants that power. Not only. Cade likes people with pure hearts, he liked contaminating them with his darkness. He makes love with them and made them fall in love with the darkness inside him, he makes people blind of love and devotion for him and before you can even realized it you all belong to him and there’s no way out anymore”

“Are you talking about Stefan or about you ?” asked Alaric confused.

“Me, Stefan… he had others. Not all the hunters are the same for him, some of them were special, Stefan is special. He wants to devour him completely as he had devoured me.” she said looking at the ring.

“It was you the one who married him. You should have chosen a better husband than the Devil” accused Alaric.

“You have still this naive idea that I’ve chosen this life. You’re wrong. Because of my power I had been banished on an Isle and abandoned there to rot. I’ve done everything I could to survive. Survival is not a crime” she said.

“You manipulated people and made them losing their mind, this is the crime you’re here for” said Elena.

“Humans mind is made for survival not for being sane. Damon’s mind knew that when I compelled him it would be better surrender to my power instead of fighting. In the end compulsion works because humans mind is aware not to be able to fight it. Unfortunately, submitting human’s mind is easy as is difficult free it. I can’t do anything for Damon, only one person can give him back to you”

“Who ?” asked Elena.

She felt the hope trowing up inside her heart at the only thought that she was going to find out the way to save Damon. She loved him, despite all the lies he told to her.   
It was clear that Bonnie and Alaric, at her side, didn’t trust Sybil’s words, and maybe Elena was nothing but a fool for believing in her, but she had almost lost hope until that moment. Now Stefan was there in Mystic Falls, he helped them to defeat Sybil, he could help them to find the other part of the Bell. He could help her to save Damon.   
Bonnie was sure that the Siren had something in mind. Sybil was a master of manipulation and the witch knew better than trust her and did Alaric.   
The blond hunter, although considered Damon his best friend somehow, he also was aware that Damon had a lot of flats, that few people considered him worthy of appreciation and that al lot of people were mad at him.   
He didn’t believe that his younger brother didn’t hold a grudge toward him. No one was so good not to want revenge after having given up on his own freedom and then being abandoned by the one responsible for his miserable existence.   
Maybe he was being paranoid, but Damon’s kidnap, Stefan’s arrival, the Staff… it looked too much like a fairytale.

“You, Bonnie, Caroline… you all represents something important for him. You don’t need Stefan to save him. I would willing set him free if you persuade Stefan to give me back the Staff” proposed Sybil completely serious.

“Ah, nice move. We’re desperate but not enough to accept to make a deal with you.” said Alaric.

“Stefan’s not here for Damon. He has stopped to love his older brother a long time ago, who can blame him ? Damon is a selfish prick, who lack of self-esteem and who constantly hide behind a mask of arrogance the knowledge to be the most pathetic member of Salvatore’s family. After all, if not even your own parents love you, who else can ?”

“Shut up, you bitch !” shouted Elena.

“Why ? You have still a lot to learn about your boyfriend. One more thing, he knows what I like in bed” said Sybil licking her lips.

That was it. The moment when both Alaric and Bonnie had to stop Elena from entering inside the cell, with the risk of setting Sybil free and it was probably what the Siren wanted above all anything. Bonnie knew that they would never obtain anything if they let themselves being provoked by the Siren, at that point the best things was that only one of them remained there.  
Bonnie took Elena’s hand and them she dragged the friend away with her, so that only Alaric remained.   
Sybil smiled. Did she already said that it was too much satisfying hurting other people ?   
It was like a drug for her, reading and spying other’s people minds only to use their thoughts against them.   
Alaric looked at the Siren and he studied her. Even thought she was in a cell, she looked more like a child who was trying playing inside her own personal dollhouse and she was the only one aware of how the plot was going to develop.

“I’m tired of lies. You’ve proven to be a manipulative person, one of the best I’ve ever known, but now I’m tired, really. I know that you and Stefan have been hiding something from us since the start”

“Are you implying that me and Stefan are ganging up on all of you idiots ?”

“I don’t believe in coincidence, that’s all”

“Maybe you don’t like him because you fear he can take Caroline away from you. She’s with Stefan, right now, isn’t she ?”

Alaric gasped. How did she know ? Did she read it in his mind ? Did she know the feelings he had for Caroline ? From the cruel sadistic smile on her face he could swore she knew anything.

“I’m a cruel woman. I’ve seduced so many men thought the years. I gave them tastes of me and in return they gave me their heart. I didn’t have to ask, they just gave him their soul. Every one of them became crazy for me, desperate enough to pray God only to be looked by me. It was a sweet love game. I admit it. This is love after all… A cruel play from the cruelest for the weak and the fools. My husband taught me that.”

He taught her how to love too…  
When he touched her body with his strong hands and delicate fingers, when made her body burn of an sinful desire that had never been completely satisfied. Her body was one thing with her husband, so her soul.   
If she had ever loved someone sincerely, it was the one who she gave all herself. She used to love Cade genuinely, before he consumed her with completely, absorbing any kind of innocence, letting her with open wounds and no cure to heal them.

“He ruined you. He has been manipulating you and he turned you into a copy of himself…”

“He just does what men have been doing all these centuries. You chose to marry us, you rule the world and we remain at your side even when we woman don’t have any feelings for you. It doesn’t matter if we don’t love our husbands, we want to be desired, this is why we wear pretty clothes, we use make-up, we learn to took and to take care of you. I didn’t love Cade when I married him, but i wanted to pleasure him. I didn’t care what I had to do.”

“Not all men love this way. Maybe your only fault is to have been a naive girl, but the rest is all your fault. All the bad things you’ve done are your fault only”

“Don’t try to figure my story out ! You know nothing. My deal still. Take the Bell to me and I will set free both Damon and Enzo. If you instead chose to pick Stefan’s side, well, you’re going to lose more than you’ve already done”

 

The conversation was over and the worst of this was that Alaric was aware that they knew nothing new.  
It was funny somehow how conversations ended up, without a conclusion, only an embarrassing and unwanted silence that didn’t allow further words from both of parts.   
Sybil lay down on the bed and she hide her smirk. Being imprisoned inside that nasty place had its advantages after all, she could find out more about that bunch of fools and also she could feel her power increase and it was inebriating. Soon she would be strong enough to escape from this place.

…

Caroline and Stefan were looking for the Striker inside the blond’s garage. The guy was purposely looking for the Striker in the opposite direction, because he wanted Caroline to find the Striker and the journal. It would look less suspicious. He still believed that things would have been easier if he had followed the original plan, but of course he always had to find a way to make his life more difficult.   
He didn’t want to be there, he wanted to come back in the tranquility and sweetness of his solitude, where there was no possibility to do something wrong, where there was no reason for him to hide the hatred and the sufferance inside his heart, where he didn’t have to pretend to feel something but the emptiness. He could only hope that Carline would find the Striker soon and the diary, without trying to keep up any conversation.

“So… you’re a Sinner Hunter ah ?” asked Caroline.

‘Excellent analytical skills’ he thought with irony, after that the blond throw away all his hopes to avoid any kind of conversation. Personally he didn’t think to own any kind of explanations but he couldn’t even calme people to be curious. Sinners Hunters weren’t easy t find since they spent the major of they lives in the shadow and since they, officially, didn’t exist, they were nothing but legend, which was a not indifferent advantage since no one knew how to kill them.

“Yes. Funny life, really. I work 24 to 24 hours because every moment is ideal for bad people to do something wrong. I kill them and send their soul in the Hell. In change of this I have a complete immortality”

“I’ve heard this statement before and if there’s something I learnt is that there isn’t a perfect immortality. If it’s not the time, there are other things strong enough to kill us” said Caroline while she opened another box.

“Then there’s a hope for me. I’ve tempted several time to kill myself to be free of my condition. I let myself burning alive under the sun, I stabbed my heart with a wooden dagger, then I tried with werewolf venom and nothing of this worked”

“What ?” asked Caroline stunned.

“Immortality in change of slavery. I’m bound with my Master. My death belongs to him, as any other part of myself. Only Cade can chose when I can die” he answered.

“This is inhuman !” said Caroline.

“It’s the Devil”

“Is this an excuse ?”

“A fact. We shouldn’t waste more time. Keep looking” he said.

He hoped that the conversation was over but it was clear that Caroline wanted to know more. She wanted answers, she hoped he would open up with her, that he would share the deepest secrets that he had only shared with thousands lonely nights, that he would tell her a way to kill him.   
Knowledge was power, specially about your enemies. He knew it better than anyone. Using his powers to know all her sins had been the first thing he did when he met her.

“What did you feel when you saw Damon after all this time ?” she asked.

He smiled. It was so obvious that she was the daughter of a cop. He could easily figure out why she asked him that question. There was no way that he wasn’t Damon’s brother or that he still loved him if he demonstrated to have true feelings for him, that he truly didn’t hate him for having been abandoned.   
How did he feel about Damon ?  
How did it feel seeing again your family after being abandoned ?  
How did it feel meeting again blood of your blood ? Flesh of your flesh ?   
He really didn’t know how to answer…

“It wasn’t how I would have preferred. That man wasn’t my brother. Only a puppet. My brother wasn’t perfect, but he’s never looked at me in that way. It wasn’t him but I will take it back”

“Why haven’t you looked for him all these years ?” asked Caroline.

“Because he’s the one who left. I feared to be rejected by him, to meet him again and not to find a place inside his life. There’s nothing worst than to be rejected by your own family” he said opening another box.

Caroline looked at him and she felt that she could understand him somehow. When her father captured her and tortured her she felt that way. Her father accused her of having broken his heart by being a vampire and she had never felt so hurt before and she would never be able to forget how her father looked at her. Like she was a monster, someone with his daughter’s face but he didn’t know anyways. Caroline hoped he would never look at her that way again. It literally broke her heart.

“You can come back inside his life, now. We can defeat Sybil and then we can find a way to save you”

“A sweet dream” he smiled at her “How many boxes remain ?”

“Just one. Cross your finger” she answered.

He closed his eyes and he smiled. He felt almost pity or sincerely sad for the blond girl. He knew that she was going to analyze his words over and over again, to find some kind of crack inside them, an inner meaning that could prevent him from getting what he wanted. She, as the other, had been tricked and deceived by a lot of people before and they all were keeping their guard up toward him.  
That was why it was essential not doing any mistake.

“Oh my God… I think I find it !” she screamed “I see something else too”

“Nice job partner”

 


	32. I love you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ah love, a dreadful bond ! And yet so easily severed ! 
> 
> \- Davy Jones, Pirates of Caribbean

  
**CHAPTER 32**

Caroline was enthusiastic of having found the Bell and she would have preferred that the other shared her enthusiasm better than they were actually doing.   
When she and Stefan came back to the Armory, they quickly realized that something had to happen when they left. Elena’s posture and expression were typical of a murder who was dreaming to kill his next victim in his head; Bonnie were hugging her, probably to calm her and both Matt and Alaric weren’t there.

“Where are the boys ?” she asked.

“Did you find the Striker ?” asked Elena ignoring Caroline’s question.

“We did.” said Stefan showing a boy with the Striker inside.

“Alaric’s trying to interrogate Sybil but I doubt he will find out something interesting. She’a the master of manipulation. Three minutes with her and she was able to use our secrets and thoughts against us” explained Bonnie.

“It was only the appetizer. She can do worse than this. She can create illusions inside your head, so realistic that you don’t even think about dreaming. It’s real, for you and I don’t cease to be and before you realize it’s getting you crazy” said Stefan opening the box with the Striker inside.

“How can we defend ourself from her ?” asked Bonnie.

“I don’t know. We hunters couldn’t stay together, there can’t be more than one hunter in one town. I’ve never learnt to defend myself by Sybil because I’ve never needed” he answered.

“How convenient for you” said a male voice behind them.

Alaric had given up on trying to interrogate Sybil, since it was clear that the Siren had no intention of revealing him something useful until he assured her that he would betray Stefan for her. Alaric didn’t want to make deal with Sybil, specially one pertained Stefan.  
Alaric was sure that he couldn’t trust Stefan either, he had the sensation that the brunette was hiding something from them. There was something in his look, something about his general attitude, maybe he was paranoid, but he didn’t feel like trust.  
Everything they knew about Stefan was that he had sold his soul to Devil to save Damon, which meant that he was a good devoted brother, but what if he wasn’t anymore ?  
Working for Devil wasn’t a walk through the park, it had to change him somehow, he couldn’t still be the same guy. Stefan couldn’t avoid to feel some resentment toward Damon, it wouldn’t be natural. He also didn’t appreciate how closer Stefan and Caroline seemed to be. For heaven’s sake, she had known him for a couple of hours, she knew nothing about him and nonetheless she was literally devouring him with her eyes.   
Stefan tried his best not to smirk.   
He could hear Alaric’s thought so clear and he was so tempted to piss him off even more.   
Gently he put an hand on Caroline’s shoulder and then he smiled.

“Did you take the journal ? It’s important for them to know” he asked.

“Oh, I was reading it in the car. I forgot it there” she said.

“It’s okay. I’m going to take it.” he said.

From the way Alaric looked at him, with the classic look of someone ready to commit an homicide, that was why the brunet wasn’t surprised that the blond hunter followed him outside the Armory.

“What is your game ? What is your main goal ?” asked Alaric “Don’t dare to say Damon. I would never believe it”

“You wouldn’t believe me even if I say something obvious. You don’t know me, you can’t say when I lie or not. You would be a fool otherwise” he said opening the door of the car.

“Legitimate my suspects won’t make you look less suspicious to me” said Alaric grabbing the journal before Stefan.

“I wouldn’t dream of it. Although your recent suspects aren’t objective. You don’t like me because Caroline shows too much appreciation for me for your taste. You want me to stay away from her” he explained.

“Of course I do. I don’t trust you and she has already suffered too much”

“How sweet of you, but don’t worry, I like games but love is not one of them” said Stefan closing the car’s door.

“Love isn’t a game. Is a connection, the purest connections someone can have with another person. A commitment that bounds both body and soul.”

“Poetic. Love is a game, a trick constructed by the cruel for the weak and the fools. You flirt with someone, you gives them a taste of yourself, you let them be greedy of you. You have fun while your suitors beg for being devoured by you. And it’s funny, really, funny. When you’re heartless and you have nothing to give, only to take.”

“You’re talking like Sybil, you know ?” asked Alaric crossing his arms.

“Really ? Another thing that I and the Queen have in common. A crude and cynical vision of love” said Stefan shrugging.

That was a mistake. Talking like Sybil could be a terrible mistake, not because it could prove that they knew each other deeper than he was willing to declare, but because it could show a certain affinity between the way they thought and considered the life in general.   
A certain compatibility of visions could be interpreted like a compatibility in ideals, aims and attitudes.   
He had to encourage them to see how different he really was from Sybil, not how similar they were.   
When he came back inside with Alaric he saw that the three girls were talking to each other, probably they were updating about the recent events.   
Alaric sat close to them and opened the journal.

“This is the journal of Ethan Maxwell, the second part, the one me and Dorian didn’t find before.” said Alaric browsing pages.

“Is there something interesting ? Something that can help us to defeat Sybil once and of all ?” asked Elena.

“Give me some minutes to read it. I want to read everything before we chose to use the Bell against Sybil”

“I’m tired of waiting. I want that bitch out of our lives once and for all” said Elena.

“How’s Damon ? Can I check on him ?” asked Stefan politely.

“He’s still sleeping I guess, but yes. Maybe you would be capable of… helping him, maybe. Let’s go” said Elena getting up.

“I think that I go away too. I have to prepare lunch for the kids” said Caroline.

“I’ll stay there and read the journal. Say hell to them from me” said Alaric.

“Sure. See you later” said Alaric.

Elena, Stefan and Caroline went away, so only Alaric and Bonnie remained there.   
Bonnie wanted to remain alone with Alaric, she had things to say, things she wanted to share with someone who wouldn’t reprove her.

“Alaric, can I tell you something ?” she asked.

“Yes ?”

“I… I don’t like being so close to Sybil, but neither to Stefan. Maybe it’s because they both are Hunters, but when they’re in the same room with me I can feel them inside my mind. Like they’re both trying something and they bury and bury and the more they find the more they want. Don’t you feel the same ?” asked Bonnie.

“I can’t say so. I could feel Sybil inside my head because she wanted me to, she wanted me to know that I couldn’t hide anything from her, that she got me. I don’t have this sensation with Stefan but I don’t trust him either” said Alaric.

“Sybil showed something, when I was there. She showed me… imagines… memories maybe. Two girls on an island, abandoned by everyone… completely alone…” said Bonnie.

“Why didn’t you tell it before ?” he asked preoccupied.

“Because… She showed me how she kills people. She literally made me see her eating people live. it’s like an horror movie…”

A young woman was swimming inside the pool, in front of her there was a man who was looking at her, as he had never seen something so beautiful in his life. He was looking at her like he was under a spell. Enchanted.   
He didn’t move, he didn’t scream, he did nothing… nor while she was caressing his cheeks, or licking his lips, or scratching his skin.

“You looks so delicious… I love you… remember ? I love you”

Then Bonnie saw the same young woman repeating these words to another man, before eating and scratching with her teeth the skin on the jugular. It was her mark. The last sentence she told to all her victims, both men and women.

“I love you”

“It’s the love the devours itself. She shows me that she loved all her victims and that all her victims had loved her at some point. That was their greatest fault, the sin she wanted to punish them for, their love.”

“How could she consider love a sin ? People don’t chose to love. It happens”

“Not for her…”

_Love… is such a fault, a sin, something unworthy of forgiveness, of my forgiveness. Love is nothing but a trap, a lie born from the heart of the cruel and the powerful over the weak. It’s an illusion that can give the sensation of keeping the world in our hands._   
_People say ‘I love you’ everyday, but who of them really love ? No one. No one is willing to give up on power, on ambitions, and goals in the name of love, for another individual._   
_In this world there is but one truth… humans can’t love. They can only take what the other are willing to give._   
_Love is like a virus, it penetrates inside people’s veins and creates illusions of happiness, partnership and families but it’s only devouring you by the inside and putrefies both your mind and body and when even the smallest cell inside you is useless, it abandons you._   
_Love is the main cause of my destruction…_   
_My parents told me ‘I love you…’ and then they abandoned me the next day._   
_My sister, Seline, told me ‘I love you…” and then she turned me into a monster. She tricked me and she sold me to the Devil in change of power._   
_My husband told me ‘I love you…” and then he cheated on me, I was his wife he should have loved me until the end, but he abandoned me._   
_I’ve been punished for love…_   
_I knew this when I came back home after an hunt and I saw him, I saw him with another person, a woman, I don’t remember her face, I don’t remember if she was pretty or ugly, I only remember the sound of her lips and teeth meeting and looking for each other, and the caress of their hands along long their bodies and of her own heart braking down._

“She blames love for her destruction. You have no idea what she’s saying to me in my mind in this moment. The terrible things she’s saying… What she’s showing me…”

“Don’t you know any spell that can help you to push her out of her head ?” Alaric asked.

He didn’t like the idea of that Siren inside Bonnie’s head. He didn’t like that Sybil was showing her imagines or memories of whatever the witch was seeing.   
Sybil had already played enough with their mind, they couldn’t allow her to penetrate further, to turn them into puppets to be command as Damon and Enzo. They had to be stronger and smarter if they wanted to survive.

“I’ve no idea. I’m not even sure if she really wants to make me see those things. They’re so personal, keys to understand het better and from what I got she didn’t want to be understood. Well… Maybe I’m just tired. I will search in my Grimory. See you later”

“I will contact you with the other if I finds something interesting in this journal.” answered Alaric.

Bonnie nodded then she went away. Alaric followed her with his gaze until she disappeared outside the door. Then he continued to read the journal. Time wasn’t on their side, it was clear. Sybil was too many steps ahead from them and if they wanted to have a chance to protect themselves he would better hurry up to find answers.  
Bonnie had just open the door of her car when she got hit by another strong headache.

_‘Men, women, I devoured them because they tried to devour me with their love and their affection. They wanted to trick me, they just wanted to brake my heart.’_   
_Sybil couldn’t stop herself from doing what she was doing. She met men and she wanted them to love her and then she killed them like a black widow. She didn’t want to be so mean, or cruel, but she couldn’t stop from doing it._   
_Cade, her Cade, the man who swore to love her until the end, who married her, had simply lost interest in her._   
_She gave him everything, her first kiss, her virginity, her heart, she allowed him to have power and control over her and maybe that was the problem. She had nothing more to give._   
_She was empty. How could she fulfill this emptiness ? How could she have back what she had lost ? How could she find something to give to her husband again ? She could give him children, the Hunters, but not children on her own._   
_She was a living death, a Siren, a creature resurrected by the death and kept alive thanks to Hell’s power, so she couldn’t give birth, she couldn’t get pregnant._   
_It was int hat moment that she saw him… A beautiful child, with a delicate, angelic and almost feminine face. He was running through the woods following butterflies and his long dark hair flew with the wing. He was too short to caught the butterflies with his little hands but he didn’t care, he kept smiling and laughing and Sybil considered him the most beautiful creature she had ever seen._   
_She fell in love with that child, with his red cheeks and his childish laugh but above all she felt in love with his innocence and in that moment she felt to understand her husband as she had never actually done before._

The vision ended, but Bonnie hoped that she could see something else later. The witch was starting to have the suspect that those visions weren’t created by Sybil but that Bonnie herself could see them with her own power. Maybe it was a stupid idea but she could only hope that maybe she had a way to defeat the Queen of Hell at her own game.

…

Damon was laying down on a bed inside one of the Armory’s rooms. He was in a so called ‘spiritual coma’ but he looked like he was sleeping. Elena was taking his hand with one hand and caressing his hair with the other. She missed him a lot, she missed the sound of his voice, even when he said something terribly irritating or offensive. She missed his hugs and the sensation of being held by him during the night.  
She looked at Stefan and she noticed that he was observing his brother with deep interest, he was examining him as Damon was a something he had never seen.   
Probably it was what happen when you saw a person you’d met before and saw him or she again after a long time.

“Why don’t you take his hand ?” she asked.

“I don’t know. I sold my soul because I wanted to save him. But I failed. Take his hand, feel his skin… Somehow any sort of connection would make it feel real. I know it is, but I’m not ready to accept it”

“Accept what ?” asked Elena.

“My failure. I didn’t even want to come back here. I just keep ruining his life. I don’t blame him for his abandon.”

“You should. I love Damon more than anything else in my life but I’m not blind to his faults. He shouldn’t have left you”

“If he hadn’t he would have never meet you. Nor that matters anymore. I’m going to defeat Sybil and then I’ll go away”

“Why don’t you stay ?” asked Elena.

“Because I would have killed Damon otherwise. Believe me or not, the Devil put his eyes on his soul, to burn in Hell. I can’t stay. I won’t.”

“Damon wouldn’t let you go” said Elena.

“He let me go a long time ago” he objected.

Elena bite her lower lip, not knowing how to answer. Maybe there wasn’t anything to say. She didn’t know the story, she didn’t know Stefan, she didn’t know if they were close and she hated that Damon didn’t tell her about his past.

“Why has Damon never talked abut you ?” asked Elena.

“I think it’s pretty obvious. I’m a murderer and a danger, also I’m doomed to live in the dark so it was almost obvious that he let me in the dark of his mind. Don’t brood over this. There won’t be any family reunion , any hugs or apologies. Nothing”

He meant what he was saying. He didn’t want any family reunion, he didn’t want his good old family back, he didn’t need. Once you got rejected you remained rejected. He had no desired to come back to someone who had left him for nothing. Why bother ? Why caring about people ? Why caring about something you didn’t belong to anymore ?   
He looked at Damon and he had to do anything in his power not to show the anger that was rising inside his chest. Damon was the one to blame, he was responsible for the current situation. No one told him to be a jarhead in his life, he should have made more conscious decisions in his life and maybe he would have been happier. But not. Not all people born with the gift of wisdom, but for Heaven’s sake, Damon should have done better. Instead other people had suffered and payed for his mistakes, he was the complete sinner, the first who deserved to burn in Hell with all the other monster.  
Gods if only he could set his stupid little body on fire right here in front of his even more cretin girlfriend.   
She said se wasn’t blind to see Damon’s sins but she was blind and dumb enough to justify them over and over again. He knew her sins, she wasn’t so innocent how she believed to be. She thought to be a rightful young girl, with strong morals and with a kind heart, but he knew that the allure of darkness had already taken away all her innocence. The good little girl she wanted to be was gone, she only had to accept it.  
Suddenly he began to hear something in his mind, voices, one voice in particular, Sybil… what was strange was that he knew that the Queen wasn’t communicating with him.  
Then he also began to see imagines, memories actually…  
’Something’s wrong…’ he thought.

“I’m… I’m sorry but… I… have to go. I… I…”

“Are you okay ?” asked Elena getting up.

“Not really, the Devil’s trying to talk to me. It’s dangerous, I have to go away”

Elena tried to stopped him, but Stefan was faster and quickly he disappeared.

…

Matt had just entered inside the Armory and hoped not to find Stefan there. Maybe that tedious guy was right and he was acting childishly but the blond cop didn’t care. He wasn’t obliged to like him even thought he needed his allegiance. When he entered he saw Alaric who was reading a journal.

“Hi, what is this ?” he asked pointing the journal.

“I was going to call you. I read in this journal how we can use the Bell. Only the Maxwell family’s members can use it, which means that only you can use the Bell to kill Sybil and setting free both of Damon and Enzo”

“Where did you find it ?” asked Matt.

“Caroline found it, with the Striker in her garage. We finally have all the pieces now.”

“A good new. Where’s Stefan ?”

“With Elena and before you can say anything, I don’t trust him either but for the moment I can’t say anything without looking paranoid. For the moment all we can do is completing the Bell and use it. Not before that Sybil will set Damon and Enzo free”

“Is that necessary ?” asked Matt speaking before thinking.

Alaric looked at him with severity “Matt, I totally understand why you would prefer a world without vampires but whether you like it or not, Damon and Enzo are our friends, Elena and Bonnie love them and we can’t let them dying with Sybil”

Matt didn’t say nothing and Alaric wasn’t surprised. No one of them could obliged Matt to accept vampires again, as he used to do once. At least the blond hunter was grateful that the other was willing to help him to complete the Bell and to use it eventually. Matt was the only one who could use it to kill the Siren and hopefully the Devil too.

…

Bonnie was keeping her head in her hands and she was crying. Her head was burning more and more after any memories. It was like her head was being putting under a strong pressure, an effort bigger than it could handle. It was like someone was pushing Sybil’s life inside her head against her will.

_And I love him… I love that beauty boy… I held him against my chest and caressed his sweet hair…_   
_I consulted him when he cried for his mother, the mother who had abandoned him, who left him to the care of a stranger. He cried so much during the first days and my heart broke down each time._

_“ Please…” he begged thought the tears “Please… I want my mommy. Take me back to my mommy.”_

_“I’m sorry, I can’t take you back. Your mother abandoned you. Why don’t you want to stay with me ? Have I been bad with you ? Have I treated you cruelly ?”_

_“No… but you’re not my mommy. My mommy… She can still take me back. She loves me.”_

_It was in that moment that Sybil grabbed him by the chin with strength, maybe more than necessary, and it scared him._

_“Listen me carefully, boy. If your mother really loves you, she would be here now. She would be the one to beg me to give you back to her. Do you see your mother somewhere ?” she asked cooly._

_“You’re bad…” he said crying again._

_“I’m only realistic. I’ve been a daughter too and I’ve spent so many years alone on an island waiting for her to come for me. I couldn’t accept that she didn’t love me enough to take me with her”_

_“I’m sorry… But… But I want to go home !” he screamed and then he ran away from me._

_I’ve been a daughter, a sister and a wife but never a mother, he knew I wasn’t his mother, and I had no idea how I could make him love me. I didn’t matter how kind I was, how sweet I was, how mani attentions I gave to him, at the begin nothing was enough. The necklace around his little neck was the only thing that he could think when he saw me. His executioner, his enemy, the woman who has taken him away from his dumb self centered selfish cruel mother. I was the one who truly wanted him. I didn’t know what give to him, I didn’t know how to behave, I didn’t know what to say, I only knew I couldn’t let him go. He was the only thing that was completely mine._   
_The little fool also tried to kill himself by jumping by a rope._

_“Why did you have to do something so foolish my sweetheart ?” she asked to him holding him into her arms._

_“Because… I want to come back to my mommy. I’ve seen something, in my head, my mom dying and so all my family. I wanted to come back to them but then…”_

_“Then what…”_

_“I just want to go home, with you. You were right, no one will come for me.”_

_I’ve never known what he had seen while he was death, I’ve never cared. I began to like me after that day._   
_We became a family, we did everything together and he kissed me on the cheek when he saw me._   
_I loved my little baby with all my heart._   
_I became for him what Cade became for me, his Goddess. I took care of him like a mother could do, I taught him how to eat properly, how to read, how to write, other languages and I taught him how to love…_

  
‘Oh God…’ Bonnie taught with horror. She didn’t… She couldn’t…

_I didn’t remember the exactly moment when I fell in love with my little babe, but I remembered the first time he kissed me._

_“May I kiss you ?”_

_I thought he was joking. He was only sixteen years old but he was already a refined young man, who has seen and done more than the other boys of his age. I taught him how to hunt down sinners, as the worthy son of his mother and father. Cade particularly appreciated my new maternal sentiment and he admitted that her idea wasn’t bad at all. Growing up a child in their family had been useful to reinforce our bond and our relationship improved._   
_Cade liked the boy’s spirit, the way he killed his victim, the sin he choose to condemn above any other else and the devotion he demonstrated toward his new mother, me . We managed to be a perfect family for almost two decade before everything broke down again._   
_I should have seen that coming, I should have known better than believing that something in my life could work without any further complications. I was so focus on reconquering my husband’s love that I didn’t realize that another man had developed a deep feeling for me. I realized that my little baby had never considered me his mother, only a sort of caregiver, someone who he could love without feeling guilty._   
_I didn’t want him to kiss me, I didn’t want him to touch me. I didn’t want to become his lover, I just wanted to be his mother, the woman he would always love, not matter what happen._   
_I’d spent my whole life observing the relationship within mothers and children and she learnt that not matter how much they could fight, how severe mothers could be sometime, but in the end their children loved them anyway._   
_Now she knew that she had never been a mother and she would never be. Why couldn’t she be a mother as the other woman ?_   
_Why couldn’t she be loved unconditionally ?_   
_Was she really nothing more than a slut ?_   
_A desire for men’s eyes ?_   
_Was she just a…_   
_She didn’t even want to think about it._   
_That was why she nodded and let him kiss her. On his lips ‘I love you’, three words that never failed to hurt her._

“I can’t handle this visions anymore. My head hurts now” Bonnie said.

She was on the point of fainting…  
The visions continued and her head hurt so much that she couldn’t even be horrified how she would have felt in another situation.   
Apparently everyone would do everything it took to be loved by someone else, not to be appreciated, to be aware that someone would never go away and disappear.   
Sybil was desperate for love, but Bonnie would have never imagined that that boy was…  
Suddenly she heard someone knocking at her door. Maybe it was her magic or her headache but she had the strong sensation that something was wrong.  
She opened the door, slowly, but the person on the other side slammed it against the wall.

“Oh my God…”


	33. Fear and Pride

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stefan and Klaus finally have a serious discussion and the blond can understand what real means being the soul to save of a Sinner Hunter.

**CHAPTER 33**

THE DAY BEFORE - NEW ORLEANS

Stefan had always compared life to a jigsaw puzzle. Some people were better than other to resolve them and put any piece at the right place, because they weren’t impatient, because they knew how to complete it right. They started from the small things, the edges, the bases, they didn’t rush at the center, where things became complicated, too confusing, to the point that you didn’t even remember the the picture on the box.  
Stefan used to believe he was one of the people who started from the edge, who were smart enough to complete the frame instead of the center. He was wrong.   
The truth was that he had been making rush moves since the first day in New Orleans, when he started to believe that Klaus could be his salvation, he ceased to be methodic, he ceased to think over things before acting. He made one wrong choice and then he stubbornly continued on that tedious path.   
Usually his pride wouldn’t allow himself to admit he had done something wrong, he was a Sinner Hunter, he wasn’t supposed to do something wrong. Maybe failure was really his destiny.   
It was the only explanation he had for finding himself in this situation with Klaus over and over again. He, Klaus, somewhere, discussing after a bad day about things he didn’t want to talk about.   
He looked at the blond hybrid, who was looking at the sky above them.   
The stars didn’t watch over them that night, not even the moon was possible to admire. Above them there was only an immense veil of darkness that completed a sad scenario.  
They were on a root of one of that many buildings of the French Quarter. There was something that fascinated both of them about seeing people walking in front of them. It made them feel part of the crowd although they could never be part of them. They were monsters, freak shows, they didn’t belong to them anymore. They could only belong with each other. Klaus could belong to someone else, Stefan was already taken, by Cade, by Hell and he didn’t have a say in the matter. It was just his life.

“I know I own you an explanation, but I don’t know that to say” said Stefan.

“Maybe you should start by explaining to me what means to be your soul to save” said Klaus.

“Do you remember when I told you that there are two ways to escape from Devil ?” he asked.

Klaus nodded so Stefan continued “One of them was selling a soul valuable as your, the other, the most difficult, is finding your soul to save. Finding someone worthy of salvation, someone to help, someone to lead to Heaven, I guess. Someone who’s worthy of being forgiven. Mine it’s you”

“So you have been using me all this time, because you needed me to be saved, not because you actually care for me” replied Klaus who was barely controlling his anger.

“If it was like this then it wouldn’t have worked from the begin. You have to create a connection with your soul to save, a bound made of trust and loyalty, you accept to connect your soul to him or her and you share your destiny to this other person. I chose to share all I have left with you. My soul, my heart, my life. Maybe I haven’t done it in the best why but believe when I say that everything I do it’s for you”

“And yourself too.” said Klaus standing up and grabbed Stefan by his chin to oblige the other to look him in the eyes “You told so many lies that I…”

“You said yourself that you are sure to know when I lie. This is because of the connection. I know when you’re going to do something wrong and I try to prevent you from doing it and you know when I lie and are capable of defending yourself from my powers this is my I could have never compelled you. I can’t hurt you Klaus”

‘But you did’, it was what Klaus’ eyes were telling to him.   
Stefan didn’t know how he managed to keep his stare firm while the shame and the guilty were pushing him to look away. He knew he had his faults, he knew that if they were in that situation it was because he didn’t handle the situation properly since the start.   
He couldn’t even blame Klaus for not believing him because everything he had proven was that it was actually a liar. It didn’t matter if he lied for good or bad reasons, what matter for Klaus was that he had lied to him.

“I apologize. I don’t know what else I can say”

“Telling me all the truth. Why me ? Did you chose me as your soul to save because of my past ? I bet it had to be so intriguing and challenging for you trying to redime the worst monster of all time from Hell. Klaus Mikaelson, the hybrid, the cruelest heartless bastard who almost made you killed the first time we met”

“You’re misunderstanding. I didn’t chose you, no one can chose his soul to save or it would be too easy. You have to wait and look for it and if you’re luck enough you find it. It wasn’t my choice to involve you into my life. I wanted to be as far away from you as I could.”

“You could have !!! Instead you chose to remain and complicate my life even more that it already was !”

After that statement something in Stefan’s head snapped. Was Klaus really blaming him for all the problems of his life ?  
No he didn’t accept that. Maybe Stefan hadn’t done a great nos as protector but surely he wasn’t his fault if blond’s life was such a mess. If anything, his family was safe only because Stefan chose to use his powers to protect them. Marcel, Jun, Tyallah… all of them had died or suffered because Stefan chose Klaus before them.

“You’re life was a mess even before I came into. Your anger, paranoid and selfishness pushed your sibling to gang up on you. I know I’ve messed up everything, but you should learn how to take your own responsibilities. If you arrived at this point it’s because for your own doing”

“I’ve done what I had to do in order to protect my family !!”

“Stop to hide yourself behind your family. Admit for once that power was so appealing for some who used to be beaten up by his father, that you loved people fearing you because it made you feel more powerful than them and so safer”

“You know nothing about me and be careful because I’m getting angry”

Stefan could see the veins appearing around Klaus’ eyes and his blue eyes became golden but he wasn’t scared. Klaus couldn’t kill him, not in the center of French Quarter where he couldn’t even hope to compel everyone to forget the fact.   
Stefan knew that this time Klaus wouldn’t hesitate to hurt him and he wondered if Stefan could be willing to be beaten up or to defend himself instead.   
Stefan probably would just go away.   
Klaus instead couldn’t control or repress his anger. He didn’t like when he was lied by people, specially people he trusted. Also he didn’t like being criticized.  
Stefan knew nothing about him. He didn’t know what it meant being persecuted, feeling hopeless because a man constantly and steadily following you all around the world. He didn’t know what it meant believe to be worthless and alone and a monster.

“I do” Stefan whispered.

“What ?” asked Klaus.

“I couldn’t do it at the start, but sometimes, when I felt that our souls are particularly close I could read your thoughts. It’s like your soul’s trying to tell me what you can’t”.

“Really ? Do you have any idea of how I’ve been feeling for my whole life ?”

“Unwanted. Your father’s always hated you, he blamed you for his misery, he told you that you were a coward because he couldn’t admit his own cowardice. I saw my father treating my brother in the same way”

“You don’t know what it means being alone” said Klaus.

“When I used to be human, my father’s ambitions all were on my shoulders, so I didn’t have the time to meet people and have friends. My father considered it a waste of time and when I could I became a Sinner Hunter. I’ve been so alone for so many years, completely alone. I didn’t even have my family by me and I would have given everything to have Damon with me”

Klaus bitten his lip then he said “I’m a monster”

“And I’m a monster too, but we’re not monsters because we are hybrids or vampires, but for our actions. You’re not a monster, you’re special and it’s beautiful. You’re powerful but this doesn’t mean you can’t be loved too. Power and Love can go hand in hand”

Suddenly it made Klaus remember what Elijah told him when they arrived in New Orleans, after he learnt that he was going to be a father.

“Are you a master of love now ?” asked Klaus skeptical.

“You wouldn’t like what I learnt about love” said Stefan shrugging.

“What ?” asked Klaus “ What do you associate with love ?”

What did he associate with love ?  
Stefan didn’t actually associate love with anything.  
When he thought about love and when he thought at the people who pronounced the words ‘I love you’, everything he could think about was his mother attempting to escape by her husband with him and Damon and then his father who abandoned his mother alone to rot, afte shaving kissed her on her lips for the last time.  
He thought about Katherine who steadily repeated to love him with all her heart while she was raping him, obliging him to have sex with her.  
He thought about Damon telling him that he loved him before running away and leaving him into the darkness and the flames of Hell.   
He thought about Sybil.  
Love pushed her into insanity, Cade used love to manipulate her and to have a full control over her, reducing her to nothing but a shell of his hatred and ambition.   
And Henry…  
All Stefan knew about love was that it was dangerous and that could be a weapon if used by wrong people. That people didn’t hesitate to use your own feelings against you and you couldn’t even defend yourself because you considered it right and not matter how deep it hurt, it was always your fault, because you dared to have your heart on your hands, where everyone could see it.  
‘Nobody breaks my heart… I’ll never allow’ that had been what he constantly kept in his dumb numb mind.  
He had scars all over his body and soul, but his heart…   
Love pushed Henry to sell his soul to the wife of Devil, who didn’t love him back and who used him only when she felt too alone in her empty world made of nothing but ashes.

“Love is manipulation… is being willing to change all about yourself in order to pleasure your lover. Love is… family… Cade constantly tells us he loves us and…”

“Do you believe him ? After everything he’s done to you ?” asked Klaus stunned “You can’t seriously believe…”

“I believe nothing Klaus. You underestimate the entire situation. Cade wants everything of us. He taught Sybil how she was supposed to love him. Completely devotion and submission to him and his rules and…”

“What about Henrik ? Stop trying to protect me from the truth, I want to know it. I want to know if I can still have my brother back” said Klaus.

“Henrik… I made a vow not to tell anything he doesn’t want me to…” answered Stefan lowering his gaze.

“You can’t expect me to accept this.”

“Do you want a proof of my love for you ? Do I have to demonstrate something to you ? That am I totally loyal to you ? Do you have any idea of what Cade asked me to do to prove my loyal to him ?”

“Enlighten me, because surely I can’t understand you if you don’t start to explain”

“He asked me to give him my mother’s soul. I’d spent thirty years to find her and then I found out she was a Ripper like me but I didn’t kill her. I couldn’t. I failed my test for her. She abandoned me then”

“Didn’t Cade punish you ?”

“Of course he did. He threatened to send another Hunter to torture, manipulate and rape my mother if I didn’t let him to touch me. Devil can’t touch you, you allow him to. I gave him the permission to caress my cheeks and hair. I let him treating me like whore. A pet. A toy. A soul for a soul, a body for another one… that is how my whole life’s always been”

“Is it what happen to Henrik too ?” asked Klaus standing up again while veins appeared around his eyes again.

His little innocent brother… his little prince… turned into a pet. His beautiful Henrik whose enjoyed the wooden toys Klaus made for him. Little Henrik who always ran in tears toward him when he had a nightmare or when he fought with other children.  
Little Henrik who hugged him with his tiny arms and played with his hair with his little fingers.   
Klaus understood that Cade was crueler than him, a pervert, sadistic, but the idea that he could have put his dirty hands on his brother… the fury risked to blind him.

“Stefan… tell me…” he said with tears in his eyes “Tell me… that Cade’s never touched Henrik with even a finger…”

“Stop calling him Henrik. He died !” Stefan answered begin to cry.

Klaus closed his eyes and he passed his hands over his face. He couldn’t repress his tears anymore and again he felt like the world was falling on his shoulders.   
Klaus now could be sure that he was a complete failure. He thought he was strong enough to protect his family against everything and everyone but he failed.  
His little prince had been alive all that time and he has been being used by Devil as a pet. It wasn’t fair. He was just a kid… A child…   
Klaus wanted the Devil dead, it was the new mission of his life because now everything he could think about were the dirty hands of that monsters on his brother and Stefan too.  
He wanted to destroy the Devil, he was going to find a way, it didn’t matter the cost.

“Have you ever slept with him ?” asked Klaus almost fearing the answer.

“No” answered Stefan but then he added “…yet… I had to made another deal with him”

“I’m not sure I want to know” admit Klaus.

He wasn’t sure anymore to be prepared to know the truth, he wasn’t sure to want to know it anymore. He thought he could handle it but Stefan was right. He underestimated everything. He didn’t take all the matter seriously since the start and sincerely when he heard Stefan talking about Devil Klaus thought he exaggerated but he was a fool.

“He wanted me to kill you. Because you didn’t have a bloodline, I didn’t want to hurt you, I just…”

He told Klaus everything. He told Klaus about his meeting with Cade, he told what Cade ordered him to do if he wanted to spare Klaus’ life and he also revealed what he convinced Eri to do.  
Stefan felt ashamed of confessing that he involved Eri in his mischievous plan but he couldn’t avoid it. Eri didn’t agree with him but at the time he couldn’t think about another solution.   
He wouldn’t have used Eri’s powers against Marcel if he could have done it, but now it was too late and Klaus deserved to know the truth. It was also a way to distract the blond from Henrik, since Stefan had no intentions of revealing anything about Henrik.   
He could break all the vows he’d made but not that one.   
Klaus was listening carefully any word and it felt anything so unreal that for a moment he thought it was nothing but a joke, but he knew that Stefan wasn’t lying and for a moment he regretted to be capable of knowing when the other was lying.  
With other people there was always a little possibility of being wrong, but not with Stefan. It was like his soul was screaming at him not to believe a word when the other lied and begging him to listen when he said the truth.   
He couldn’t handle bad news, not that day, not when he’d been so close to die and lose his family forever. Not when his sister’d been on the point of burning in Hell forever. Not when Marcel told him that he hated him again.   
Not now that he knew that Henrik’s been treating like a whore by an horrible tedious pervert and Klaus wanted dead with all his heart.

“He should have consulted me. You should have told me !!”

“I couldn’t. I didn’t even want you to know that I was a Sinner Hunter, how could I…”

“I came to you, I looked for you in Church and I was horrified of what I’ve done to those guys. You perfectly knew that I didn’t want another bloodline and…”

“Cade ordered me to kill you, why don’t you want to understand ? I didn’t want to hurt you, but I had orderers and I followed them even if I didn’t approve them. I’ve no free well. Cade orders, I obeys. That’s all”

“You didn’t obey when it came with your mother”

“So what ? Would you have preferred me to become his personal whore for you ?”

“You do whatever it takes for the person you love”

“Cade made Sybil sleeping with other men for him. He treats her like a whore, love or not, I won’t allow you to treat me like that !”

“Stop comparing everything to Cade !! That’s not the world !!” Klaus shouted without even trying to control himself anymore “You know nothing of the world !!”

“Probably. But I do know the world I live and I really don’t like it ! The bracelet represents my slavery, Cade can find me everywhere and there’s no way I can protect myself from him. How could I protect you instead ?”

“Being sincere with me.” answered Klaus.

There was so much disappointment in his eyes and in his tone of voice that Stefan couldn’t look him in the eyes anymore. He felt like a child who’d just been scolded by his mother and who couldn’t handle the disappointment in her eyes.   
If Stefan had imagined that his choices would have produces a such disastrous outcome he would have taken different ones, but it was too late now.

“I couldn’t, I was scared of you” said Stefan.

“Scared of me ? You’re the last person who can be scared of me. Since the first moment our path’s crossed all you did is lying to me and putting my family in danger !!”

“You’re becoming ripetitive and boring. Being sincere for once and admits that you’ve been messing up with others life and now that you’re paying for everything you have no idea about where to begin to put all the pieces together !!”

“Why don’t you simply say that you compare me to Cade ?”

“It’s not like you two are so different after all !! You used your siblings’ affection to manipulate them, as Cade used Sybil’s to do the same thing !! You’ve been persecuted but it also truth that you’d persecuted Katherine for centuries, only because she didn’t want to die for your purpose !! You expected people to die for you and you punished them if they chose their survival over you !!”

“You’re not God, you can’t judge me !!”

“I’m not judging you. I don’t need. You’ve sacrificed all your pieces on the chessboard and the checkmate had been more painful than you could ever imagined. The King fell and lost all his powers. You’ve been luckier than Cade, you had a second possibility”

“You speak like I’m the only one who’s gaining something from this situation. Let me remember you that you need me to be free of Hell” said Klaus.

“Since we’re confessing to each other, let me say… I don’t need you to get what I want. I could have killed you, had sex with Cade, made him fall in love with me and got my place as new Prince of Hell” said Stefan with a cruel smirk.

Klaus opened his mouth indignantly. He didn’t expect Stefan to say something like that.  
Stefan didn’t care anymore. He had the decency of admitting that he was wrong but he couldn’t accept that Klaus was nos blaming him for anything,  
The Beast inside him wasn’t allowed anymore to be insulted and blamed.   
The ripper was showing his teeth and nails, the monster roared and was ready to bite and chew his prey.  
Klaus started to smile cooly. Stefan’d showed the worst of him once before, the Ripper and Klaus’d never forgot the cruelty in his eyes. He’d never imagined that Stefan could be so cruel to him.

“I dare you to. Go for it, kill me” said Klaus coming closer to Stefan.

“I won’t. Your death would erase many complications but I won’t do it. As I said, I care for you and your family and although you could be an insufferable dick, I want your happiness. If you don’t want the same for me, it’s okay. I will find another way to be free of Cade”

“You said that Cade cannot be killed”

If there was even the slightest possibility to defeat Cade, Klaus wanted to know it

“He’s a King. All Kings risk to be defeated if they lose all their pieces on the chessboard. Believe me, he’s going to lose everything. I’m going to take everything he has away from him. He’s going to pay for all those years he stole from me and for everything else. He’s a Tyrant and I’m going to banish him from his throne. I swear to God” said Stefan turning his back.

There was no need to remain there any longer. There was nothing else to say.   
At least now Klaus knew everything and there weren’t any secrets between them anymore. Stefan could just hope that Klaus would forgive him one day for everything.   
Klaus was right. Stefan should have told him everything since they became friends, but he was so scared.   
He didn’t want to become Klaus’ friend, or fall in love with him, or to be his soul to save.  
Stefan was so used to ignore his feelings that he confused affection or protectiveness for something else. For love.   
Stefan was in love with Klaus, that was the truth.  
Stefan loved Klaus for the way he stood for people he loved or cared about, because he didn’t give up on fight and he always found a way to survive. Klaus was a fighter, not matter how deep someone could hurt him, not matter how deep his wounds could be, not matter how low people could think of him, he never lowered his gaze for anything and anyone. Klaus was a manipulator, like him somehow, they had the same tendency of playing with cards half covered. They both worked with strategies, lies and tricks.  
They both knew what it meant being persecuted, seeing their own life being taken away from them without being able of doing something.  
They both knew the cruelty of loneliness.  
They knew how to fake a smile for formality while they would ova preferred went away , they know how to cry to look lovely while they were smirking because they like seeing their enemies suffering. They learnt how to be two sheeps into the trick, they learnt how to pretend a submission when they were preparing their destruction.   
Their were cruel in their insanity and weak because they loved with all their hearts and souls and ended up hurt and broken.  
They definitively deserved each other.

“I’m going to play all the cards I’ve left in the best way, I’m going to defeat the King of Hell, I’m going to do whatever it takes to burn Cade inside the fire himself created. You have no idea of what Hell I’m going to prepare for that piece of shit.”

“I don’t like how you talking”

“It’s not my fault if God made Devil stronger than a man, it’s not my fault if God limited himself to create adoration. Love’s been made by Devil, it’s a weapon to use against fools and weak, Cade used it to manipulate and corrupt everyone and everything and I’m not going to let you use it on me.”

“You’re so scared… You can’t live in fear forever”

“It’s not your business. I will protect you forever and I will give what you’ve lost back but the rest… You have to conquer it on your own. Show to everyone that you can be a better man. I know you can.”

Stefan turned around. He didn’t have anything else to say, he just wanted to go away and try not to break himself down after the latest of the failures of his life.   
How could he ever think that something could finally work it out in his life ?   
For once he truly believed that he could have been free of Hell, that he could start a new life with Eri and being happy after years of torment and darkness. Apparently he’d made a good thing when he chose to make a deal with Sybil and Henrik. He didn’t need Klaus, he just needed Cade dead and he’s going to make it happen.  
Man couldn’t defeat Devil but fortunately he ceased to be a man a long time ago. He wasn’t powerful as Cade, but it didn’t mean anything because in the end if he was good at something it was getting at his way.   
No one was going to stop him or change his mind.   
He could already feel the taste of Cade’s blood in his mouth and hear his screams while the fire was burning him down.   
The Ripper inside him laughed hysterically, a noisy sound that preannuncia a old tragedy that was going to repeat.  
While Stefan was going away, walking, Klaus for a moment wished to follow him but then he refrained himself from doing.   
He may was a fallen King but he still had his dignity and he didn’t go behind anyone, he didn’t follow anyone it were the other who followed him and his orders.   
He was Klaus Mikaelson. He was the Hybrid, the Legend and he wasn’t going to submit to anyone. He was going to take back his kingdom and his crown and he was going to make another King fall.  
Cade or the Devil, whatever it was, was going to burn in Hell.  
Stefan may hadn’t got it clear, but he was the one who ruled the play on the chessboard, he had no idea of what Klaus was capable of doing to protect his family and the people he loved.  
Stefan considered him a broken doll that could also try to fix all his pieces to live a mundane life, but he didn’t know that Klaus wasn’t for mundanity.   
He had a revenge to pursuit and God saved the Devil from his anger.

…

Cade was satisfied and pleased about the recent events. Everything was exactly how he wanted it to be.  
Stefan and Klaus at loggerhead and Stefan ready to embrace the darkness inside him.  
Cade saw it… the beautiful little monster inside him roaring in front of the blond… it was pure ecstasy for him.   
Cade’d made the right decision when he chose to take Stefan’s soul instead of Damon’s ones.   
Damon had nothing interesting to offer to him, he was but a rotten toy even before Cade could raise an hand on him. Stefan’s spirit conquered his heart since the first moment Cade’d seen.   
Humans, common humans, were all selfish and cruel and cowards who escaped dangers without hesitation because deep down were aware about how pathetic they were.  
He’s been ling for three millennium and only few times humanity managed to surprise and pleasure him, for the most part humanity failed to entertain him.   
That was why he chose the member of his family were carefully.  
He chose them in base of their virtue and their sins.  
Sybil was a pur virgin woman who wanted nothing else but to be loved and love someone with all her heart and Cade turned her into the Queen of Lust.  
Henrik wasn’t much different from her. He would have given up on everything to learn how to feel love, to be the most important person for someone’s heart and in the end he gave Cade his broken heart.  
Not too bad.  
Henrik turned into the Prince of Greed. Henrik was looking for something that he hadn’t found yet and he hoped that if he managed to conquer all the road he was going to find it.  
Stefan didn’t want to give him his heart, not yet at least. He was still so convince to be the self righteous martyr he thought to be. But if Stefan represented one of the deadly sin, it was Gula.   
It was enough a taste of blood to dominate Stefan’s thought and mind. A little taste of blossom blood turned Stefan in one of the most amazing and feared assassin of history, so much that in Monterey people still whispered the name of the cruel Ripper King of Chicago Night.  
Stefan, Henrik, Sybil… He’d already had half of his family, he only had to find other three members.  
First Stefan’s heart then he would find other people pure enough to contaminate with his ideals.  
After all if there was a deadly sin that represented Cade instead it was Pride.  
Cade had no doubt that he was going to conquer Stefan’s heart really soon.  
The Devil was the only one who loved without prejudice, he would let Stefan enjoying tastes of Hell, darkness.  
Cade would bite and mark any centimeters of Stefan’s soft skill and he would poison his heart.   
The favorite of his Hunter would finally understand how evil he really was and how beautiful his cruelty was.  
Cade loved pure things but in the end they were so useless if they couldn’t be turned into something more useful.   
Cade wanted a family but also an Arsenal. An Army of people who would be ready to die over and over again for him. Who would sacrifice everything for him and him alone.   
The fire in the fireplace was the only source of life in the dark living room of his mansion but Cade couldn’t feel warm. A ghost without its shell couldn’t feel warm, but he didn’t care.  
He could still feel pain, sad, lust, satisfaction, joy but he wouldn’t be happy until his world didn’t burn down at his feet or until Stefan loved him.  
Why ?  
Why did Stefan torment his thoughts that way ?  
Why every time he dared to love did he have to suffer ?  
Why didn’t Stefan want him ?  
Why did he prefer that vulgar licentious hybrid who had nothing to give anymore but problems ?  
Klaus Mikaelsson represented everything Cade loathed with every fiber of his being.   
Common, ambitious, naive, stupid, fool, manipulator, hypocrite, weak, liar…   
He thought to be so much different than the rest but in the end his goals was what united him with the rest of world.  
So much sins which made the world so ugly and imperfect.   
Sins were viruses and he was the cure for this poison that made the world unappealing.   
He wasn’t going to destroy the world, he was saving it. God let his own creation polluting the planet with its greedy and cruelty and He didn’t dare to have his hands dirty by trying to saving it from the plague of sinners. No. God let innocents died instead.  
So if God din’t do his job, Cade would do. He would locked all sinners up in an never-ending Hell, where they would burn for the eternity and there suffer.   
With him, his family would share glory and power.

“If I was still a believer I would have prayed God for erase this pain. Because I can feel and see him everywhere. Stefan, why don’t you love me ?”

Hellfire…   
He used to believe that there couldn’t be flame stronger and more destructive than Hellfire but he was wrong.   
Cade firmly believed that God couldn’t be the one to create love.  
Why someone considered pure goodness would create a sentiment so destructive ?  
Love meant hurt and pain, love turned the most sane and innocent people into crazies one.  
People were capable of marking their soul with the most abominable actions in the name of love. Love meant sacrifice everything for the other, it meant giving up on your own ideals and soul to pleasure the other. It was nothing more than a simple codependency and Cade’d always known how to get the most from it.  
That was why anytime he felt this burning desire he felt like he was going to sin.  
Love was this, a sin.

“It’s not my fault if my heart could still feel. If Stefan spelled my heart since the first time his innocent eyes looked at me. I’m not the one to blame.”

Oh that boy… he was going to be his and his alone such as Sybil and Henrik. Or he swore to himself, Stefan would burn in Hell forever. If Stefan insisted too much in refusing him, Cade swore he would let the Hellfire burn Stefan down both his body and soul.

“Oh yes… God have marcy on him if You want, but he will be mine or I swear… He will burn and with him all the world… I’m going to see all this sinful world burn !!”


	34. A New Ruler

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Don't you know the war is far from over now  
> What a stumbling block we've fallen over now  
> As our brothers die defending no one  
> The war is far from over now
> 
> Sacred Lie - Disturbed

**CHAPTER 34**

Cade knew that if he wanted to separate Stefan from Klaus once and for all he shouldn’t have wasted the opportunity offered by their recent fight.  
After all, Stefan’d been in New Orleans for far too long at this point and he had to change the city, also Stefan hadn’t found another person to be turned into an Hunter yet.  
That was the second assignment Cade gave to all of his children.  
It was just a way to gain time but now he was convinced that the only way to be sure that Stefan would give up on Klaus was separating them physically. So Stefan had to move away from New Orleans and never come back.  
Cade would bet any centimeters of his Hell that Klaus would prefer to become human again instead of following Stefan and losing his dignity and credibility in front of his siblings.  
Pride was a chain that not even love could brake, not in the case of Klaus Mikaelson.  
And Cade would make sure that Stefan, in his desperation, found affection and love in his arms, in his bed, in his mad world for enough time to corrupt his mind.  
He needed help. He couldn’t go to New Orleans personally. He should send someone else there.  
Someone who was so desperate to escape Hell even if it was for few hours or days that to accept to make a deal with him without any hesitations.  
He needed a master of manipulation, he needed someone good at tricking people, he needed someone cruel enough to be willing of use any methods to push Stefan away from New Orleans.  
Someone who knew his deepest weakness, someone who wouldn’t hesitate to hit him there, over and over again…  
Oh… he knew the right person for this fundamental mission.  
He had her soul in his hand and he could do with her whatever he wanted.

…

Stefan was tired.  
He’d spent the whole night hunting down and killing sinners, one after one, without stop for even a second. He was frustrated and for once he let Ripper taking control over him. Seriously, it was like having a bad evil roommate to share your own mind with. As usual Eri’d waited him awake on the couch to come back home and Stefan apologized with her for his behave.  
He’d been away for too much time and she got worried, again, because of his childish way to react when situations didn’t go his way.  
He let Eri absorbing his sins from him, she used his powers and used a lot of energy to help him to fight against Tyallah and hen to save Sofya from the Shadow.

“I would want to do more for you… I should do more…”

_He didn’t like failing, he loathed disappointing Eri’s expectations, specially after days wasted in telling her that sooner everything would become better, that they would become a real family, that he was going to give her a new happier life._  
_How could he brake all her hopes now ?_  
_What kind of words should he use to hurt her less ?_  
_Would she forgive him for having failed her again ? After all the things she’d done for him ?_

_“He didn’t forgive you, right ?”_

_Eri didn’t need to ask her question to know she was right. She knew her otōsan better than himself, better than she knew herself too._  
_She could feel that something’d gone wrong with Klaus. Personally, she couldn’t blame Klaus, even thought she didn’t like him. She didn’t agree with her otōsan different times before. she didn’t agree with not telling Klaus the truth since the begin, she totally hated using her powers on Marcel to use him as scapegoat to oblige Klaus to start another bloodline._  
_But what was done was done and now they could only try to fix what could still be fixed._  
_There was still something they could do, kill the Devil. It wasn’t impossible, Cade was a man before and deep down inside him he still was ones. Cade could feel anger, pain, joy… deep down in his there was still a beating heart that could be stabbed with a weapon. The weapon._  
_They knew where it was, they had just to find a way to get it._

_“We will find another way. I don’t care about the consequences anymore, Eri. From thins moment, that only thing I’ll care it’s your happiness.”_

_“You shouldn’t worry about me right now. We don’t have to waste even a second from now on. We have only another month , before he demands another hunter from you. We have to act quickly”_

_“I do know. I’m not going to fail twice. I do know what I have to do.”_

_It was simple. He had to follow the plan, step after step, without making any mistake._  
_He looked at the ginger princess sat by him on the couch and he hugged her tight. She was what he’d always wanted from the world, someone to love with all his heart, someone who, not matter what, would never stop to love him._  
_Klaus didn’t matter, what he felt for the blond hybrid didn’t matter, his fear of loving someone didn’t matter._  
_Stefan didn’t have to love Klaus to save him, love wasn’t necessary in his life, what he truly needed was… was… Eri’s happiness, that it was._

_“We’re going to be happy, Eri.”_

_“Watashi wa shiawasedesu, otōsan. Anata ga watashitoisshoni iru to watashi wa shiawasedesu” (I’m happy, daddy. When you’re with me, I’m happy)_

_“Sore wa watashi ni tottede wa naku, watashi ni tottede wanai. Wareware wa kore ijō no kachigāru.” (It’s not enough, not for me, not for us. We deserve more)_

_“Kekkyokunotokoro, watashitachi ga wakachi atta subete no tsumi no nochi de... Unmei wa sudeni shinsetsude, chichioya” (After all we've done, after all the sins we share ... Fate has already been kind, dad)_

_“Watashitachiha okasubeki tsumi o sentaku shimasendeshita. Watashitachiha kyōsei-teki ni tsumi o okashimashita” (We didn’t choose the sins to commit. We have been forced to sin)_

_“Watashitachiha sentaku o okonai, machigatta mono o tsukutta. Watashi wa anata no kyōhan-shadesu. Watashitachi wa mada chiryō suru koto ga dekimasu, anata wa mada sore o shūsei suru koto ga dekimasu" (We made choices and made the wrong ones. I’ve been your accomplice. We can still remedy, you can still remedy)_

_Then Eri kissed him on the cheek and surrounded his neck with her tiny arms. It was her way to wish him luck for whatever stupidity he was going to do._  
_Stefan smiled._  
Sometime Eri was too much cunning, but in the end he loved her for this. No one could ever fool her. Not even him.  
She perfectly understood what he was planning to do, at least, she knew him enough to know that in the end he would do the right thing.  
She had too much faith in him, but it was an incentive not to disappoint her, since few hours ago all Stefan wanted was to see the world burn.

After that brief conversation with his musume, he went to bed but he didn’t sleep. He’d spent the entire night brooding over his next moves and he only managed to sleep for a pair of hours.  
Now he was combing his hair for almost twenty minutes, trying to find even one valid reason not to pursuit his purpose, which was pretty insane, but he had to. He own it to Klaus.  
He own it as an apology.  
That was why he found himself in front of the door of Marcel’s house, with what it left of its dignity and trying to find courage to ring.  
He didn’t want to speak with Marcel, he didn’t want to explain to another person the reason why he did what he did but if it was the only way to make amend then he would do it.  
He rang the bell and then he waited for few minutes.  
A male vampire that Stefan vaguely remembered observed him with suspicious, it was obvious that he would never allow Stefan to enter in. Stefan smiled, he adored loyalty, it was such a rare quality to find nowadays.

“I’m here to talk with Marcel. Can you call him ?” he asked politely.

“The king cannot receive no one. He doesn’t feel well.”

“I know. Go to him, tell him that I can help him. Tell him that I will give him the remedy for his… problem if and only if he accepts to talk with me”

“Why should I trust your word ? Why should he trust you ?” the other asked.

“Because he has no other options. At least he doesn’t intend to stay ill. I’m still on time to do my own business and leave him at his own misery. It’s not like he doesn’t deserve it”

Stefan turned around, ready to go away without ever return. He knew that going there would be a terrible idea but at least no one could ever reprove him for not having tried.  
At least now he could move on with his plan B: murder.  
Since the only attempt he had to obtain Klaus’ forgiveness was officially over, now he could invest all his energy in greater and more satisfying purposes.  
But of course, fate didn’t always agree with his decisions.

“Wait… I’m going to call him, but I swear, I don’t care how many men you’d already killed, I would personally send you to Hell if you dare trying anything funny”

The other vampire closed the door behind his back before Stefan could answer something back.  
The hunter whistled instead. If they were in another situation, he wouldn’t have hesitated to use his artistic skills to turn that dick head into one of his best artworks but it wouldn’t be appropriate, specially if he wanted the trust of the temporary King of New Orleans.  
Apparently no one could understand how to help the poor Beast to feel better, in fact, Marcel has been vomiting worms for almost a day by now and apparently this strange… event didn’t seem to want to cease anytime soon. Stefan knew that it was simply a side effect due to all the time that the malack was under Marcel’s skin, but it wasn’t the only reason.  
Eri once explained him that when another kitsune used her or his powers on a human who was already under the control of another of her or his kind, it generated a sort of conflict that could create dysfunctions when the human got free of the malack. Eri put the monster inside Marcel, but Jun used her powers on him too and that was the result.  
He only had to wait few minutes before the Beast himself got out from his golden castle.  
Stefan had to refrain himself from smirking.  
The Beast probably had never looked worst in all his useless existence, well Stefan felt just a little bit sorry for him.  
Marcel was very surprised to see the Ripper in front of his porch in that moment. Probably he was there to laugh at his expense, it wouldn’t be a surprise for Marcel.  
He was going to talk, when he suddenly felt the urge of vomiting again.

“My friend told me you have a solution for…” worms got out from his mouth and fell on the floor “… What do you propose ?”

“I need to talk to you. If you want my help you have to ensure me that you’re going to listen to me carefully.”

“How could I trust you after all this time ?”

“You can’t and you shouldn’t but now you don’t have any other choice.”

Stefan loved having the upper hand, it gave him the sensation of being able of controlling part of an existence he could no longer keep under control at all.  
Marcel didn’t trust that guy. Since the day he’d arrived in his city, Marcel disliked him and considered age other pretty suspicious. For not speaking of when the other used compulsion on him and it actually worked. Marcel’d never understood how it could have been possibile, since he was supposed to be the strongest creature of the world.  
But that vampire… he seemed to always find a way to deceive him and everyone else.

“if it’s a trick I swear…”

“Listen me up, I don’t like you, I don’t care about your wellbeing and I’m not going to pretend to care about your wellbeing. If it was for me I would have sent you right in Hell a long time ago, but for the moment, I’m here to help you. Now, do you want my help ? Or do you intend to keep wasting hours of my time ?”

“I don’t want to remain alone with you. I don’t know but something suggests me that it would be a terrible idea”

“I do know. Don’t worry. We can talk somewhere else, but please, if you feel the need to vomit, run into bathroom.”

It was supposed to be a joke, but Stefan was pretty serious too. He didn’t imagine how people would react if they saw Marcel throwing up worms in front of them. Marcel rolled his eyes, but chose not answer. He did want to find a solution for it’s problems, he was tired of vomiting worms and to feel so bad. Furthermore, he wanted explanations for what was happening to him.

…

High heels… leather black leggings… Black jacket… blood red lipstick…  
Oh God how she’d missed feeling alive, even if it was just for few time, at least she could have fun after years spent in that cage. She would have never thought she could hate someone so much as she hated stupid Elena, Damon and all the other little useless things.  
How she would have been happy if she was in Mystic Falls now and she could finally have her revenge on them for what they dared to do to her.  
They took everything away from her, her immortality, her life, her daughter and worst of all she couldn’t even have her revenge to finally kill each one of them. If she did a good job with the other little fool maybe she would have the opportunity to negotiate with Cade again.  
The Devil should really care to have Stefan in his team if he was willing to five her some special gifts to defend herself.  
Even if she was dead she wasn’t the vampire she used to be anymore. She was weak, she could bleed without being able to cure herself and New Orleans was full of supernatural creatures and she needed something to defend herself.  
Just a tiny little of power… for the rest… she was more than capable of taking care of herself…

“I’m Katherine Pierce… I’m a survivor, staying alive is my speciality” she said while she was walking through the streets of New Orleans.

Apparently she had no a specific target, only a task.  
Pushing Stefan to the edge of leaving New Orleans forever and she knew exactly how do it.  
After all, if there was something she was the best at it was getting what she wanted.  
Katherine could almost see the irony in that situation. She’d spent her whole life running away from Klaus and his fury and she was so scared of him that sometimes she couldn’t even sleep at night and she’d had nightmares for years.  
Now she was breaking in his former Kingdom as she’d been invited personally by the fallen King himself.  
Klaus was going to be so glad to see her, she was sure of this or she would make sure of it.  
Now she was finally ready to have her revenge on the King of vampires for everything he’d done to her and her family.  
Not only. She’d hated Klaus before but now she loaded him, because now he could have the only thing she really did wanted in her life. Stefan Salvatore.  
Now she found out that Stefan belonged to Klaus, that the blond was the other soul to save and that the two were in love.  
Klaus’d always taken too much things she owned, she would never permit the blond to have Stefan, not in a million years.

“Now I only have to choose a beautiful place for Klaus to die”

Well, before to face that damned hybrid, she would better test the extent of her power first. She didn’t know exactly what kind of things Cade allowed her to, so she had to find a guinea pig. If story taught her something, it was to stay thousands steps ahead from her enemies and not to be taken by surprise, never.  
She was trying to figure it out a traini plan when suddenly she heard something in her head.  
‘… The King is out… he’s not in his mansion… he went somewhere… his vampires are all alone…’.  
‘… He kept throwing up worms from his mouth… he’s sick… he’s away…’  
‘Interesting’ thought Katherine while she was jut realizing one of her gifts. Fascinating. She’d always wanted to know what the other thought when they were around her.  
At least now she knew that Klaus was sick, that something strange happened to him and probably now he was somewhere treating a poor witch to fix his problem.  
Good. His home was empty and defenseless.  
What a wonderful new…

“The war between you and me is far from over Klaus… It’s better for you to be aware of this”

Finding the king’s house wasn’t so difficult. It was enough to ask information to the right people and luckily her charm didn’t die with her.  
She arrived at one Penthouse where the self proclaimed King of New Orleans lived. Strange. She thought that Klaus would have chosen to live in a more traditional place, such as a old mansion that could scream how much glorious its owner was  
Well, tastes changed. It didn’t matter.  
She rang the bell and waited.

“I’ll admit… what I’m going to do is pretty nasty and I love it.” she whispered.

When the open got open she saw a dumb male vampire who looked at her with even a dumper expression on her face.  
Apparently her charm really did survive even after having spent all that time in Hell.  
Good thing.

“Hey, did someone of you order the lunch ?” she asked with a smirk.

“Lunch ? Are you the lunch ?” he asked with a predatory smirk.

“Did it ever occur to you, you have no idea who I really am ?” she asked “Poor guy, you have no idea I’m not nice at all”

Then she attacked him giving him a punch in the face and then pushing him away.  
Apparently she had back part of her strength or she would have never managed to hit a vampire like that, not matter how much young the other could be.  
The other vampire looked at her stunned. He didn’t realized that woman could be a supernatural creature, but what kind of creature could she be ?  
Well, now he was angry. The veins and fangs appeared and fast he tried to attack.  
Katherine punched him again right in the face and made him fell on the floor again.  
’Even my reflex are almost the same of when I was a vampire… good…”.

“What do you want from us ?” asked the vampire trying to throw a punch at her.

She punched right his hand broke his fingers and wrist “It’s not clear… I want your King to know that while he was away a new ruler arrived in this stupid town”

‘I knew it was only a trap. I’ve been a fool’ the other vampire thought. Katherine borrowed. She had no idea of what he was thinking about but he didn’t care. She had a plan to follow.

“Tired already ? It’s just begun”

Then she kick him right in the chest and she could set to have heard the bones got broken. In the meanwhile, other vampires arrived, females and males. Lovely, there was nothing better than an audience to assist yo your victory, pity that no one of them would survive to tell the tale.

“Go away, beauty little thing, you can’t win against us” said another female vampire to her.

“Here she was another one who doesn’t have any damn idea of who I am…”

The vampire tried to bite her but Katherine grabbed her by her throat and then throw her away against a wall. Two vampires attacked her at the same time, one of them almost succeeded to bite her on her right shoulder but she hit him right on the nose with her head, Then she grabbed the other by the wrist and the shoulder and pushed him away from her too.

“I have only one question for you… Where’s the king of this shit hole forgotten by God ?” she asked kicking in the face one vampire who was still on the floor.

“Go to Hell bitch !!” another vampire yelled at her and then tried to attack her.

Katherine grabbed her by her throat “Honey… I’ve just returned from there…”

Then something strange happened. Her brown eyes became orange and suddenly the hellfire that burned her soul in the Hell began to surround her body as well and then all her shape was on fire.  
‘Cool…’ she thought. It was painful, but cool.  
The other vampire tried to get free from her grasp but then her skin became dark and dark, until it ended up burned.  
Katherine let her fall on the floor and smirked.  
The other vampires couldn’t believe at what they’d just seen.

“Even better than a wooden dagger… who’s going to be the next ?”

Almost ten vampires attacked her at the same time. One of them punched her hard on her face. She kicked one of them in the stomach, then she managed to brake another’s neck and then set him on fire too.  
Another vampire grabbed her from her shoulders while another tried to hit her on face but she kicked him in the face and burned the one behind her with hellfire.

“Are you so loyal to the King to be willing to burn for him ? I’m surprised”

She really was. She’d never expected so much loyalty toward someone like Klaus. As far as she could remember, Klaus wasn’t someone who gained loyalty or devotion. He used fear to ensure obedience but these vampires… they were really ready to die for him something that Katherine would have never believed to be possible. Well, times changed and so did people.  
Another young girl tried to kick her in the stomach but Katherine grabbed her leg and then hit it with an elbow and then repeated the action by hitting the girl on the face.  
She kept doing it until she managed to defeat all of the vampires in the room and then she set all their bodies on fire.  
Unfortunately she didn’t notice that there was one last vampire who’d observed all the scene from afar and who ran away before to be caught by her.

“Too easy… no one of them knew were the King was… pity. I should better get rid of this place. Worms always come back to their cave, Klaus is not an exception and he will find a nice surprise”

…

Marcel just finished his third glass of whiskey. It was he one thing that permitted him not to throw up the worms inside his stomach.  
Stefan took him to one of the many bars in New Orleans to talk. A public space where no one could hurt the other without being noticed.  
He would have finished his tenth glass when Stefan finished his explanations.  
Stefan didn’t prepare any sort of speech, so he just began from the moment when he became a Sinner Hunter, without entering too much in the details. He simply confessed to have become an Hunter by making a deal with the Devil and that he’s been living since then in slavery killing in the name of its owner. He also confessed that he could have been saved only if he found his soul to save and that it was Klaus, that was the main reason why he got closer to Klaus, because he hoped to be save in order to have an happy life with his daughter.

“I swear, everything I’ve done until this moment I did for my daughter. To give to her what I couldn’t have given to her. I risk to burn in Hell for eternity, she doesn’t have to follow my doom”

“You should have thought about it when you made a deal with this Devil”

“I wasn’t a father when this happen” said Stefan “I didn’t even want to become her father when I met her. It just happened. As you and Davina”

“You know nothing about me and Davina and how…”

“I’m a Sinner Hunter. I can see your past sins and most of your faults regard your lost daughter” explained Stefan shrugging.

Marcel was tempted to punch him hard on his face. He didn’t even know how he was feeling that moment. He didn’t even know if he had the strength to be furious or angry with him. He didn’t even know if he truly believed at this whole story of Hell, Devils and Hunters. It seemed to be so unrealistic even if it could explain a lot of things. Oh, he almost forgot the kitsune.  
Apparently the voice in his head belonged to an evil kitsune who worked for the same Devil who was pulling the strings up and maneuvering all the scenarios.  
And he was one of his pawns. Just another pice to sacrifice. Just another piece to use and then throw away.

“Did they use me ?” asked Marcel.

“It shouldn’t be so surprising for you. You’ve spent your whole life being used by your owner your father, Klaus, Bekah… The list is really long” said Stefan.

“Cut the bullshits. I made you a question”

He needed to know, he needed to know if he’d been used like nothing but a puppet again. He needed to know if someone dared to play with his emotions and insecurity over again. He needed to know if someone dared to hurt his pride and ridicule hm in front of his friends and family.  
Stefan could feel that the other was getting a little tense as it was predictable. He would have been furious at his place but what was done was done. Stefan had powers but he couldn’t come back in time and he wasn’t even sure if he really felt so guilty toward Marcel.  
The other vampire wasn’t an innocent as he was determinate to believe. Marcel convinced himself to be nothing more than a one of the thousands Mikaelsons’ victims but he wasn’t. He was an executioner too. He’d put sister and brother against each other and when he made a deal with Klaus he didn’t hesitate to give up on Rebekah to become an immortal.  
It was hime who chose to become an immortal monster, he could always chose to die in the name of love.  
He could have had Rebekah and live his love story with her but instead he sold her and Klaus to Mikael and decided to remain in New Orleans and became the new King of the city.  
He could have been a good father or caretaker for Davina, instead he used her to rule over the city and the witches. He used her as a weapon and kept to use her over and over again. Never been able to put her wellbeing before his own.  
Stefan didn’t feel any pity for him.

“I used you because I needed you. I had a goal to pursuit and you were the tool I used. Sound familiar ?”

In that moment Marcel wished to be able to kill him, to destroy his face and so the rest his body.  
Was he in that condition because of Stefan ? Was him to convince his daughter to use her powers on her ?  
Was his fault if he’s been throwing up worms for two days ?  
Was the other also blaming him for what happen ?

“We are not alike”

“Fortunately. After all these years of fighting and being used, you’re in the same position of when you were a young child. Dominated by your fear and being used and abused by better players than you. Don’t worry, I don’t mean to hurt you ever again. If it matters… I want to apologize”

“That’s something Klaus’s never done” said Marcel giving a sing to the waitress.

He needed to order another drink.  
Stefan smiled. He should have told Marcel that he apologized only for a matter of politeness, since he still had doubts whether Marcel was an innocent or not.  
Oh come, who did he want to kid ?  
If it was for him, he should have killed Marcel a long time but he couldn’t. The little brat was of the main importance if he wanted to save Klaus from Hell.

“You know… I think that Klaus is pretty sorry too, but he’s too proud. He would never admit it.”

“If you’re suggesting to talk to that jerk first I…”

“Nothing of this. Listen, Klaus owns you an apology but you’re not so innocent either. Don’t expect to be the only one who deserves an apology. For the rest, I shouldn’t have convinced my daughter to use her powers on you”

“Come one, I’m tired of your little games. You made me look like a fool and because of you I risked to lose my friends”

“Oh I do love games, unfortunately only the challenging ones, something you’ve never been. This is the first and last time I will talk to you more than five minutes and without hitting you so… Thanks for the time. This is your little prize for your time”

Stefan put a little bottle with a bright liquid inside it.  
He asked Eri to prepare it days ago in case Marcel would show some side effects due to Jun and Eri powers united.  
Now he was grateful for having asked it.  
Marcel was reluctant to accept that bottle, since he didn’t trust Stefan.

“How can I know it’s not going to kill me ?”

“You can’t but you can continue to throw up worms from your mouth. I actually don’t care. You’re not my business”

“And then why are you helping me ? If you don’t care about me why are you talking to me ?”

“Because I told to Klaus what I’ve done to you and he is furious with me for this. Believe it or not but he cares about you and he’s still rather protective of you even if you took five years of his daughter’s life away from him. You’re still his son for him and he still loves you.”

“He can’t love anyone”

“Who are you to judge ? You can sit on all the thrones you want and nevertheless you’re no one to chose who is worthy of forgiveness or punishment or who can or not love. You’re not God and you’re no invincible. A little kitsune’s been enough to literary defeat you.”

“You’re a father and you did use your daughter to your goals. You used her to control me”

“It was for her, everything for her. Think about a life when you’re a son and you are obliged to look at your father who serves a cruel man day after day. Who kills people in the name of Devil day after day. Cade told me I was born to help him to construct a big picture for the world. If I go down she will go down with me and only to follow the utopia of a madman. Don’t think to be able to understand. You and Klaus believe to be king and rule over the other, I’ve always been a pawn instead and you have no idea how it feels”

“Do you expect me to feel pity for you ? I’m only sorry for that poor creature who still follows you”

“I would never have asked something so useless from you. Pity is humiliating. Well, consider my words. You can still have a father and a family and you can be good again if you choose to drink from the bottle. I can only fix what I broke. For the rest if you want to fix your life when you know what to do”

Stefan stood up, ready to go away since he felt that there was nothing else to say, when suddenly someone entered in the bar. Stefan recognized him.  
It was the vampire who opened the door at him when he rang the bell of Marcel’s penthouse.

“Dorian… what are you doing here ?” asked Marcel standing up as well.

“Marcel… I’m sorry… the other are dead. A strange woman, with strange abilities killed them all and she’s coming for the King of New Orleans as well”

“What ? Did you know it ?” asked Marcel to Stefan “Did you ask me to come with you only to kill all my vampires during my absence ?” asked Marcel grabbing Stefan by his jacket.

“No. It wasn’t my intention. I’m perfectly able to send right in the Hell you and your army on my own if I wanted. Your bite can’t me either. Cade’s magic keeps me alive. Nothing can kill me if he doesn’t want to”

Marcel was tempted to bite him only to try to kill him but he’d seen once Stefan killing eight of his oldest vampires alone, without any help. He knew what that brat was capable of doing.

“Did this woman tell her name ?” asked Marcel.

“No… She was really confident in her power and apparently she holds a certain grudge toward Klaus” answered Dorian

“This isn’t surprising. You said her abilities were strange, what kind of powers did she have ?” asked Stefan

“She was… She was surrounded by fire and she burned all my friends but before to do this it was like… she was absorbing their soul and…”

Dorian was going to say something else but suddenly his skin become darker, black almost and the he began to burn.  
Stefan and Marcel looked at him with fear and disgust, wondering about how much pain he had to feel in that moment and about what exactly was going to happen to him. Or better, Marcel was trying to figure it out, Stefan knew what was happening to him.  
That was the hand of an Hunter or something that came from Hell and who was working for Cade.  
But who ?  
The other people in the bar looked at Dorian with fear but then they began to burn as well and in the end died.

“Well, bunch of useless people deserved to die this way. Their only existence is a sin to punish”

“Oh my God…” whispered Stefan.

“Who the hell are you ?” asked Marcel

“We haven’t officially met you and I. I’m Katherine” then she looked at Stefan with her usual smirk “Did you miss me ?”


	35. The Myth... The Legend... The baddest bitch of all...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Now… Go to Klaus and tell him that an old friend is back… A person maybe worse than him… A person who knows all his weakness… a person who’s going to hit him there over and over again…” 
> 
> She grabbed Marcel’s skin at the height of ste stomach and ripped it away and it almost ripped skin of its stomach too.  
> Marcel screamed for pain while he could feel blood running all over his shirt.  
> Katherine, not satisfied yet, ripped his skin on his right shoulder and put it in his mouth not to make him scream.  
> Marcel wanted to throw up. The taste of its own skin and blood in his mouth was disgusting but the other girl pressed her hand on his mouth, like she was trying to suffocate him. 
> 
> “…Who wants that him and everyone he loves suffer… He’s going to pay for what he did to me and my family… The myth… The Legend… The baddest bitch of all… He will understand. Now go”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello !! I dedicate this chapter to one of the baddest villains of TVD, Katherine Pierce. I hated how Julie Plec treated her in the last episode. She made Katherine dying over over again without giving her the possibility to actually get her revenge on Elena and the other. So I gave her some powers and this chapter I gave her the possibility to kick someone's ass, one in particularly. I hope you'll enjoy !!

**CHAPTER 35**

Katherine smirked. No one could compete to her when it came to enter in the scene. She always managed to surprise everyone, especially him, Stefan Salvatore. The brother who didn’t love her enough. He looked exactly how she remembered him since the last time he saw him. The vampirism only made him more handsome than before.   
He was the only man she truly loved or at least cared about.   
When the other man looked at her, they only saw a beautiful woman to court and keep for themselves but then they all ran away when they realized how much complicated she could be. Sometimes men feared to even look at her in her eyes but Stefan… Oh he was a challenge, he was he kindness man she’d ever met and she didn’t care if he was gay or not. If she couldn’t have him, no one would. Not even Klaus, not even the Devil.  
Stefan couldn’t say that he was happy to her his rapist. He’d always hated Katherine for using compulsion to make him have sex with her, even after that he told her he was gay.   
She took his virginity while he would have preferred have his first time with someone who truly cared about him. Someone with strong arms who held him while making him his.   
Stefan wanted to belong to an kind man whose he could give his heart. He wanted to belong to Klaus, he wanted the blond to fully accept him but he ruined everything because of his fear and pride.   
He hated her.

“What are you doing here ? What did Cade promise you for doing this ?” asked Stefan with judgment in his voice.

“A pause from Hell, until he decides that I have to come back. Until that moment I’m going to kill everyone in order to convince you to leave this town once and for all” said Katherine as a simple matter of fact.

“ So this is what he wants. I have to leave the town because he doesn’t want me near to Klaus”

“That is his intention indeed. He sent me here because I’m the baddest bitch of all time and because I always get what I want” answered Katherine.

“Why did you kill all my vampires ?” asked Marcel “ You bitch, you destroyed my family”

Marcel tried to attack Katherine but Stefan stopped him by grabbing him by his arm. Stefan recognized what Katherine’d become.   
What he saw in front of him was only her shadow and he could sense the Hellfire all around her shape. It was there and it was strong. Apparently Katherine’d been a real cruel person in her life or existence.

“So are another Klaus’ pawn ? That stupid fool…” she indicated Dorian’s body with her gaze “… thinks to be smarter than me. I simply let him go so he could conduct me to Klaus. Instead I found you”

“You have nothing to do here Katherine. Go back to Hell” said Stefan putting himself between Marcel and the woman.

Katherine smirked even if she was deeply hurt. She should have expected that Stefan wouldn’t be glad to see her, she was prepared for this but it hurt anyway.   
Well, rejection wasn’t something she was used.

“I don’t think so Darling. Now, if you have any idea of how hard is running in high heels you will be kind to just leave this town without obliging me to kick your ass out there”

“One master is enough Katherine and I’m not afraid of you”

Stefan attacked for first. Faster than light he hit her in the stomach and then under her chin. His third attack instead was stopped by Katherine, who grabbed his wrist and snapped it.

“What a bad boy you became”

Katherine punched him in the face and then tried to kick him, but Stefan grabbed her leg and then pushed her away. Meanwhile the two kept fighting, Marcel looked at Dorian’s body and he felt fury growing inside his chest.  
That woman, Katherine, dared to do this to all his friends who surely died in his name, because they believed in me and she deserved to pay for this.   
Apparently she became something similar to Stefan because she was capable of defending herself from his attacks and somehow it seemed like she was also capable to predict his moves.  
‘What do you think to do now ? I’m like you’.  
’Not exactly. You’re dead, I’m still alive.’.  
Stefan grabbed by her arm and snapped it before to manette to make her fall on the ground.

“I already killed you once, I can easily to it again”

“Really ? Are you so impatient to destroy what you’ve created ?”

Katherine smiled, almost maternal, then she stood up, she kicked him and then grabbed him by his throat.  
She loved looking him in his green forest eyes and see the stubbornly determination of the only boy who she’d never dominated with her charm.   
Stefan was a survivor like her and a fighter. He fought for what he wanted and he didn’t give up until he didn’t get what he wanted. No one could stop him from obtaining something he wished and he was an excellent manipulator. Maybe even better than her, because Stefan didn’t always need to lie to use people for his goals.  
Katherine couldn’t have him but she ensured that he would become like her. Her perfect creature.   
A manipulator.  
A fighter.  
A survivor.  
She made him that way that was why she would never kill him.

“Oh baby… Do you really hate me huh ?”

“Yes I do. You had no right to… do those things to me. I do really hate you !!” said Stefan slapping her in the face.

“That sounds like the beginning of a love story, not the end of one”

Stefan slapped her again even before she could finish the sentence.  
It was different from any other attacks.   
Slapping someone that way… Stefan didn’t want to hurt her, Stefan did want her to understand how she hurt him, how he felt hurt by her actions. She didn’t have any right to have sex with him, to turn him into a monster, to deceive his brother only to hurt him.   
She should have stayed in Hell.   
Katherine laughed. She hated the violence against women but she admitted that she deserved that and that it was making her laugh. After all she had some effects on him.  
‘God you’re so hot… A waste for a guy.. really…’ she thought making Stefan feel not at ease.  
Marcel realized almost after the first slap that there had to be something personal between them two.   
He could also deduct from the way Katherine was looking at Stuff that she had some king of obsession toward him, an unrequited feeling that was devouring her.

“Are you planning to kill Klaus only to spite me ?”

“Actually yes. I know that you can’t die but you can be neutralized so while you’re being out of the game, me and my new powers will go right to Klaus and kill him and since I’ve the protection of Devil I’m the safest psychopath bitch in town.”

Marcel had enough of her. Now he was going to bite her and seeing her dying would bea perfect revenge for her crimes. He attacked her but Katherine read her thoughts and quickly she grabbed Stefan’s wrist and put it in Marcel’s mouth.   
Stefan screamed for pain and he could feel the venom entering inside his vein. He knew he wasn’t going to die, not definitively, but it didn’t make it less painful.

“See you later baby…” whispered Katherine before to snap Stefan’s neck.

Marcel was going to try to bite her again but Katherine used all her strength to slap him and make him fall on the ground.   
’So this is the new King… disappointing… and humiliating for Klaus…’.  
She kicked him in the face and then she let the hellfire surround her shape.

“Listen me carefully lad, now if you don’t want to burn as your stupid army, you’re going to do as I say. After all the failures in your life you’re finally going to do something right for once. You’ll tell me how it feels”

“Go to Hell bitch”

Marcel tried to kick her but Katherine brake his leg and then she laughed.  
Men never stopped to entertained her, specially when they were so stupid and naive. Specially when she could feel that they were related to Klaus.  
Marcel was important to the blond hybrid and maybe she could use it for her advantage, for gaining her goals and winning the game.  
She kicked him in the face again and grabbed him by his throat and used compulsion on him.

“Now… Go to Klaus and tell him that an old friend is back… A person maybe worse than him… A person who knows all his weakness… a person who’s going to hit him there over and over again…”

She grabbed Marcel’s skin at the height of ste stomach and ripped it away and it almost ripped skin of its stomach too.  
Marcel screamed for pain while he could feel blood running all over his shirt.  
Katherine, not satisfied yet, ripped his skin on his right shoulder and put it in his mouth not to make him scream.  
Marcel wanted to throw up. The taste of its own skin and blood in his mouth was disgusting but the other girl pressed her hand on his mouth, like she was trying to suffocate him.

“…Who wants that him and everyone he loves suffer… He’s going to pay for what he did to me and my family… The myth… The Legend… The baddest bitch of all… He will understand. Now go”

Marcel didn’t want to move. He knew that she would follow him to find out where Klaus was hiding with his family and that she would hurt Hope. He couldn’t let that happen but her compulsion was too strong and his legs followed her orders even before he could impose his will on them.

“I also takes this bottle away from you. As an insurance that you’re going to do as I say without trying anything funny”

So he ran…  
Katherine smirked. Soon she would have Klaus’ blood on her hands but before, she had to hide Stefan’s body somewhere safe.

“We’re going to have a lot of fun together love…”

…

Eri had a bad feeling. She didn’t know why but she could feel that her otōsan was in danger again. She could always tell when it happen.   
She tried to communicate with him through her mind but he wasn’t answering her back and that was strange because he always answered to her, specially when they hadn’t talked for hours.   
Stefan was paranoid when it came to her. He felt the necessity of controlling her, not obsessively, but he didn’t like when they were separated for too long and she didn’t reassure about her wellbeing.

“Oba… I’ve a bad feeling… I think we should go…”

Lexi looked at her with worry but then she nodded.   
Apparently New Orleans wasn’t a town where she could get bored for even a second.

…

Klaus was painting in his studio with Hope. It was something they both enjoyed, specially when they could paint together. Hope was trying to paint the portrait of Rebekah while Klaus was painting a forest with all the shades of green, probably he was trying to reproduce the exact shade of someone’s eyes. Even thought he was still furious with Stefan he still had feelings for it. It was undeniable.   
He cared for Stefan, because now he felt that the other was a part of his own soul, that they would always belong to each other. He was still tempted to call him and ask if he was okay but his pride always got in the way.  
Stefan’s words still hurt him when he thought about them even if they were partially true but he wasn’t ready to admit it.

“Are you thinking about him daddy ?” asked Hope who noticed the choice of color for his painting.

“Is so obvious my little wolf ?” asked Klaus pinching Hope’s cheek.

“He has beautiful green eyes. Why are you angry with him ?” asked Hope.

“Adult staff.”

“I’m eight not stupid. Why don’t you want to talk with me dad ?” asked Hope.

“Because I want to spend my time with you without bothering your myself with useless staff.”

Klaus began to paint again, using another shade of green. Hope shrugged. She was smart for her age but not enough to fully understand adults and all their complexes. Specially when they refused to talk to her only because she was a child.   
How could she not have secrets with her parents if they were te first to have secrets with her ?  
So, she didn’t have to feel guilty if her auntie Bekah bought her a cell and she used it to send messages to Eri and they talked about their fathers without them knowing.  
Eri Salvatore was the only friend she’d ever had and she didn’t want her friendship to be ruined just because they father had no idea of how to talk to each other.

“Don’t you like him anymore ?” asked Eri.

“I… Affection for someone doesn’t finish due to a fight. Me and your mother fight a lot, you know and this doesn’t mean that I stop to care about her only for this.”

“So I shouldn’t fear to lose Eri only because you two fight” said Hope.

“Hope, I would never prohibit you to see Eri only because me and Stefan are at the loggerheads. I think that Eri is pretty alone too”

“She is, maybe that’s why we can understand each other pretty well.”

“Do you feel alone Hope ?”

Klaus almost regretted to have made that question because he feared the answer.   
He was trying to do his best to be a good father for Hope but he knew that he had more to learn. He knew that it was only his fault if Hope didn’t have any friends or if she couldn’t attend a normal school or if she couldn’t have a normal family.  
Stefan was right at least about that.   
If his family was reduced like that it was essentially because of him and all the bad things he’d done.   
All the violence and the blood he used to spread all over the world as a malady weren’t only to protect his family. He was power hungry and he wanted to win and conquer anytime, not matter how high the cost was or could became.   
Not matter if he had to kill Rebekah or Elijah loved ones, what matter was to get what he wanted.  
He should… He should have just tried to fix everything instead he kept blaming everyone but himself.   
It wasn’t Stefan who ruined his family, or Marcel, or Aurora, or Lucien. Mikael and Esther tried to divide them but it was Klaus who succeeded.

“I wouldn’t say alone, but I’d appreciated to have more friends to talk with, to play with. You know, a person who doesn’t talk of adult staff”

Klaus smiled but then he remembered something. Rebekah told that he and Stefan’d met each other once before but because of all the events happened then he didn’t have the opportunity to ask her properly about that.   
He wanted to answer and he was sure that Stefan didn’t lie when he said that he didn’t remember as well, which meant that someone made them forgot when they first officially met.   
It was strange and whoever did it had to be really strong and powerful. But who ?  
Back when the Beast serum wasn’t used by Lucien or Marcel, Klaus was the strongest creature in the world and no one could compel him to forget something.   
Was it Cade ? The Devil ?   
At this point Klaus thought that it could be the only explanation.  
He was so lost in his thought that he almost didn’t hear someone shouting downstair.

“What’s happening ?” asked Hope.

“Don’t know. Stay here, hide yourself somewhere.”

“But…”

Hope was going to protest but Klaus stopped her “Stay hidden… Please”

Then he ran downstair when he saw Bekah, Freya and Elijah around Marcel, who was laying on the floor in the hallway. Klaus ran toward him, while Rebekah was caressing his face, probably to be sure that the other was fine. But he wasn’t.

“What are you doing here ? What do you want ?” asked Klaus.

“She… A woman… She’s coming for you…” whispered Marcel.

“Great. We can’t relax not even for one day” said Bekah rolling her eyes

“Who’s coming Marcel ?” asked Klaus ignoring her sister’s complains.

“The Myth… The Legend… The baddest bitch of all…” answered Marcel before beginning to throw up worms by his mouth.

The other took some steps away from him, looking with disgust at the worms on the floor.

“Who the hell is he talking about ?” asked Freya.

The other didn’t answer her soon but it was clear form the looks they shared that they guessed who Marcel was talking about. Each one of them had just one name on the top of their tongue: Katherine Pierce.   
But how could it be possible ?  
Klaus and Rebekah saw her die. They went to Mystic Falls to celebrate her departure.  
Apparently those bunch of idiots didn’t learn that Katherine was a survivor.   
He first should have known better than believing her dead.

“Katherine Pierce… That’s the name she told me… She said she’s coming for you…”

“She’s not going to be a problem. We can easily overpower her…” said Elijah.

“No… She made a deal with Devil… she can come back… She can’t die…”

“Then we should call Stefan. He’s the only one who can protect us at this point” said Freya.

Klaus knew she was right but the idea of calling Stefan didn’t make him happy. Not so soon after their fight.

“She killed him. She’s said that she wanted him out of her way. That the Devil wanted him to leave… He sent her to take him away…”

Then Marcel begin to coughed violently. Blood and worms got out from his mouth and he couldn’t stop it. He regretted not to have drunk that damn potion that Stefan offered him before. At this point even if it potion killed him, it would have been better than throwing up his own soul on the floor in front of four Mikaelson.  
Klaus gasped.  
He knew that Stefan couldn’t actually die, unless the Devil wanted him to. His little toddler would come back alive eventually but the only idea of someone killing or hurting him was enough to make Klaus fuming, specially if that someone was Katerina Petrova.  
Oh how much he hated that bitch who always spoiled his plan and who dared to laugh of him.  
He was almost glad that she was back, so he could kill her again and again until he kicked her anorexic ass right in Hell.

“Did you say she’s coming ?” asked Klaus grabbing Marcel by his shoulders.

Marcel nodded “Good, then we’re waiting for her. That’s the plan. Bekah, take this idiot and Hope and take them to Hayley. She’s with the pack now. Me, Freya and Elijah will stay and find a way to defeat the bitch”

“Nice plane… I’m glad to notice that you haven’t lost your creativity all this time”

That voice made everyone jump and then they saw her.   
Katherine Pierce in all her glory.   
She was looking at them as they were the punchline to one her funniest joke.  
Klaus could see almost immediately that there was actually something different in her. She looked… normal and alive but… she looked confident, too much confident, as she already knew that she was going to win the game, not matter what.   
Apparently whatever deal she could have made with Devil, it gave her something, maybe a power or an ability strong enough to compete with his hybrid nature.

“Your friend runs fast but I’m faster. I compelled him to lead me here, to you. All of you. I must say… I expected to find you in better conditions. How could have you been reduced this way ? By who ?” asked Katherine.

“Hello Katerina. I would say that I missed you but It would be a lie.” said Klaus coming closer to her.

“Hard to believe, since you’ve spent almost five centuries hunting me down like an animal and taking everything I had away from me.” said Katherine “Get out of this damn hovel and fight against me for the one we both love”

“Did you kill him ? How could you say to love him ?” asked Klaus.

“I loved him and you know how much spoil I am. He told me from the start that he had different… taste… but I didn’t care. I wanted him and I took his first kiss, his virginity, his humanity…”

She was going to say other things but Klaus punched her right in her face “Not his heart, not his pride. You raped him”

“He was innocent… Before to have him he’d never enjoyed the touch of a woman, he could always find out that he liked women as well” she said kicked Klaus on his right knee and then on his left shoulder.

“So what ? If you can’t have him, no one will ? Really ?” asked Klaus with fury kicked her at the height of her waist.

“Do you think you deserve him ? You’re not enough for him ! You’re not good enough for no one” said Katherine trying to punch him on the chin.

Klaus grabbed her wrist and then by should, but Katherine hit him with her head and then managed to set her free before kicking him in the face again.   
He tried to punch her but she punched his hand and broke all his fingers and his arm.

“You’re not so smug ah ? Well, fate gave me an unrepeatable opportunity and I’m not going to waste it. First I will send you right in Hell, secondly I will find a way to kill the Devil myself and then Stefan will be mine”

“Never gonna happen”

“I have the upper hand now… dear… Soon you will be nothing more than ashes on wind”

Katherine hit him twice before pushing against the wall.   
Then she let the hellfire wrapped her shape and she could feel the power growing inside her, claiming his victim.   
Klaus looked at the with wide eyes. What did she become ? Was it the Devil’s gift ? Being a burned living soul ? How could someone choose to be something like this ? It was awful.

“Don’t you like me ? I must say I’ve not figure it out how it exactly works. I have to be fully concentrate when I use this ability, it hurts when I use it but the only idea of you being with the only man I’ve ever loved hurt me more.”

The flames around her got higher and brighter and Klaus could feel the warmth on his face. But it wasn’t a welcoming warmth, the one that you could feel when you were in front of a fireplace or when you were being hugged by someone you cared about. It was the typical warmth that announced a dead sentence, a little flare before of the Fire.

“Time to die… Klaus Mikaelson. Don’t worry, you won’t be alone there… Your family will follow you soon. I promise”

Katherine had never been so confident in her life before. She could see the fear in Klaus’ eyes and nevertheless he wasn’t lowering his gaze or trebling or praying for his life. What a king, he wanted to die with all his dignity and pride intact. Afraid but not afraid enough to admit her superiority over him. That made her smiled, at least he remained entertaining until the very end.. All her body was shivering from the only desire of killing that tedious man when suddenly Klaus wasn’t anymore in front of her and. Actually she wasn’t in from of his house either.   
She was somewhere dark and hot, somewhere dangerous. The Hell.  
She was in a sort of arenas and she could see unknown shapes of people around here. She couldn’t see their face but she knew they were all looking at her.

“Do you know who they are ?” asked a male voice behind her.

She smiled “How can you do that ? I thought that only Devil could drag me back in Hell”

“Because we’re linked, somehow. The Hellfire… it’s your greatest source of power but also your limit because I could use it to drag you here” said Stefan showing his bracelet “Here we play by my roles”

“Well well. I’ve been a good teacher, always being hundreds steps ahead.”

“And always have a plan B, or a plan C, or a plan D, in ce our plan A doesn’t work. Yes. You should be proud of me, the student finally passes his master”

It was Stefan who did the first move. He grabbed her arm, than he hit her on the stomach and made her fall on the ground. Katherine kicked his ankle with all her strength, not enough to make him fall as well but enough to hurt him.   
She grabbed his leg with bother legs and snapped it, then she hit him hard on his face.  
Stefan hit her on her right side with a punch. Katherine stood up and tried to hit him again, but Stefan used his bracelet to create a wall of fire to separate them, so that his leg could heal properly.   
He could feel that Katherine was furious and determinate to defeat him to kill Klaus. He couldn’t know what kind of grudge she held against the hybrid, otherwise he could have also spared her so much pain by hitting her or dragging her back in Hell, but he couldn’t. Also he was holding a grudge toward her for what she did to him.   
‘Well, I can finally have my revenge on her’  
After all, all his troubles began when Katherine entered in his life and she decided that putting him and Damon against each other for her was going to be her favorite game.  
She destroyed his family, she broke his bother’s heart, she made them dying for her and then turned them into monsters. They didn’t ask for this, he didn’t ask for this and for all the rest.  
Stefan hated her what she made him do with her.

“Yes, the was is far from over, my dear”

Oh yes, Katherine Pierce had been the greatest model of his life. Thanks to her he got smarter, he learnt how to survive always, how to always have prepared a plan B, C, D.   
He learnt how not to trust nobody and how to make anyone trust him.   
An angel mask on his devil face.   
She had no idea of who he’d become in all those years of loneliness, now she was going to know it.

…

Klaus didn’t understand what happen few seconds before and apparently neither his siblings who come near to him and help him standing up.

“What happen ? Where did she go ?” asked Bekah.

“I don’t know. I recognized that flames though, she’s been dragged in Hell by someone. Maybe Stefan” answered Klaus with a little smirk.

“Stefan ?” asked Elijah skeptical.

“It’s the only explanation. I don’t think that she’s just escaped from Hell. Stefan told him that the Devil ordered her to kill me once, maybe he sent Katerina to kill me again. After all she holds an enormous grudge over me”

“Wait ? Did someone order Stefan to kill you ? When did you think to inform us as well ?” asked Freya who was fuming,

“Listen… it’s complicated. He told me of this only yesterday evening, that’s why we had a fight. Now it’s not the moment to fight with each other. I have no idea of how all this… hellish staff works but…”

“Then you’re lucky that I’ve learnt a lot from my otōsan” said someone near to them.

Klaus smirked. He knew that the little fox would coming. She always found a way to be where she was needed. Although he was surprised to find her alone. How could Miss Benson leave her to walk in the wood alone ? With all the werewolves out there ?

“Why are you alone ?” asked Klaus.

“Because that woman that I hate already hidden my otōsan’s body somewhere and my Oba’s helping me to find it. Although I knew she would come here.”

“How ?” asked Elijah.

“Doesn’t matter.” then she noticed Marcel on the floor and continued “Didn’t you drink the potion ?”

“What potion ? It was you who did this to him ?” asked Bekah.

“She stole the potion from me” answered Marcel keeping an hand on his chest.

“Sorry for what I did to you. Did my otōsan explain you everything ?” asked Eri caressing Marcel’s cheek.

The other, specially Klaus, looked very surprised to hear that Stefan had a conversation with Marcel.   
Klaus was curious to know what they told to each other and also he wanted to ask Stefan why he talked with the Beast. Last time he checked, Stefan didn’t appreciate Marcel, so why ?  
‘Did he do it for me ?’ he thought with a little smile of appreciation.

“Almost. I accept your apologize anyway.” said Marcel.

“Thanks. Now… Let’s me clarify the situation for you…”.

Eri had no idea if it was a good idea collaborating with the rest of Mikaelsons. She definitively needed a pause from that family but she also knew that it was important receive Klaus’ forgiveness if she still wanted to have a perfect family and life with her otōsan.   
Even though, she couldn’t say to appreciate Klaus, she understood that he was important for both her otōsan and Hope, her only best friend.   
She would have had her father at her side anyway. His only presence was enough to make her feel protected but people kept trying to take him away from her and that was a crime she couldn’t forgive. That was why she would fo anything to send that woman deep in Hell and the Devil with her.   
She had a plan and if it didn’t work, she could always made up a plan B, C or D. What was sure was that the war was far from over. 


	36. Evil or Good, I'm in Hell

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If you're going through Hell, keep going. 
> 
> -Winston Churchill

**CHAPTER 36**

  
Cade was admiring that little scenario almost amusing. He knew that that little nasty pester of Stefan wouldn’t have surrender so easily to Katherine. He was a fighter and a rebellious man who didn’t submit to anyone.  
So fascinating…   
How could he lose the opportunity to see Katerina Petrova being defeated, humiliated and rejected over again in front of the souls of all the people she killed in her life ?   
One after one would assist to her destruction and her humiliation. Katherine Pierce wasn’t a random choice, he knew that she could be the key to open the Ripper’s cage.   
Katherine was the shape of Stefan’s real cruelty.   
Katherine planted the seed now she could also help it to mature and grow up inside Stefan.   
Stefan was born to be a predator, but due to his moral he wasn’t free of using his full potential and that was a shame. Ripper was a wild dog but with firm rules and a proper guide he could be turned into a perfect weapon. An Hell of a Vigilante. His perfect creature who showed no pity for people who deserved to burn into fire.  
Now the hunter inside Stefan was fighting against Katherine who looked like nothing more than a kitty in comparison.  
Did she really believe that she could a be an Huntress worthy of his high standards ?   
Katherine was a manipulator, a liar and a nuisance but not a murder. She killed for her own purpose and she had no ideals to fight for, she just acted for her needed and desired. A sinful creature victim of her own impulses, who lacked of self control.  
He despised her.  
Meanwhile, Katherine and Stefan had no idea that the Devil himself was assisting to their fight.

“I do really hate you, you know that right ?” asked Stefan.

“You hate me, huh ? That sounds like the beginning of a love story. Not the end of one.”

“A love story ? Of course if you were male. Because I love dick and it’s time for you to accept it. I love dick, I would love feel it in my mouth, licking and having inside me.”

“Rude”

“Sincere. I’m a faggot and want to be fucked by a man.”

“Shut up !” screamed Katherine with tears in her eyes.

She couldn’t care less if Stefan wanted to be fucked by a man or not. She was Katherine Pierce and what she wanted she took it, not matter the consequences.   
She wanted him to be in her control, she wanted him to be her puppet on her strings, she wanted him to do anything she pleased.   
At this point, she would never forgive Stefan for the humiliation he was inflicting to her.  
He was deliberately hitting and defeating her in from all of her victims, just to show them that he was the savior who was seeking revenge for all of them.

…

Eri hoped that her plan was going to work, since she knew that it was only a matter of time before Katherine would come back there to kill Klaus.   
Katherine probably had been sent there by Cade because no soul could leave Hell without Devil’s permission. No one could escape Hell at least Devil didn’t need him out of there for some purpose.   
Eri thought that she could easily guess what kind of purpose Katherine was needed. They’d never met personally but her otōsan talked about her, a lot, specially when she asked about how he’d become a vampire. Of course he didn’t enter into details but some of them could be easily be guessed and Eri knew that Katherine used to sexually abused of her otōsan. She wondered if Klaus was aware of this.   
Speaking of Devil, she could hear his footstep coming closer to her.

“Hello Klaus” she said looking at the damage that his fight with Katherine did.

“Good morning little fox, I’m glad to see that you’re fine, although people keep trying to kill your father”

“And you. Hope and I share this too” she said “Where is she ?”

“She’s upstairs. I told her to stay there, but she wants to see you”

“I don’t think I would feel at easy using my powers in front of her. I… I… I have to use the Verbis Diablo, something I really don’t like to use”

“How does it work ?” asked Klaus.

“It’s a peculiar kind of Dark magic. The language used by the first dark warlocks to invoke demons. The more you use it, the darker your soul becomes unless you aren’t already a dark creature. Such as a kitsune or an Hunter.”

“How do you plan to use it ?” asked Klaus.

“Verbis Diablo, if used for good purposes, could also defend people by Devil. All Hunters use it to protect their thoughts from Devil. In this case, I can use it to protect this house from Katherine and everything that comes from Hell. But… I should warn you… It won’t work for long and it will only work if you all remain inside the house.”

“Thank you little fox. I’m grateful that you ad my daughter are friends, she needed someone to share her time with. Someone…”

“We don’t have the same age. I’m almost old as my otōsan. We kitsunes grow up very slowly.”

“Well, aren’t kitsunes wisdom by nature ?”

“Not always. I don’t know what I could have become if I didn’t meet my otōsan. My former pack abandoned me, my parents abandoned me. I was all alone and then he appeared, so bright, like a star. He indicated me a new path, he gave me a new family. I own him more that I could ever… Well… It’s not time for sad stories.”

Klaus looked at her like it was the first time, as he was actually looking at her. He saw a young adult in the body of a little child, who already knew that corruption and the cruelty of the world. Who knew that it meant being rejected by her own blood and being left to fight the entire world alone. Ironically, the only person willing to save her was a creature who killed in the name of Devil.   
It was the same old story… only a broken person had the art to help another ones… but sometimes it could be terribly dangerous because they could broke each other completely and Klaus understood that Eri would follow Stefan anywhere and if he sank she would burn in Hell with him.  
Was it that the loyalty of a daughter toward her father ?   
One thing was sure, Stefan was a better father than he was.

“Why did you father talk to Marcel ?” asked Klaus.

“Because of you. He knew he hurt you when he used Marcel for obliging you to create a new bloodline. He wanted to fix his mistake and apologize. I think that I should apologize too.”

“Thanks.”

“Thank me later, when Katherine Pierce won’t be a problem anymore” then she used Verbis Diablo by drawing a cross on Klaus’ forehead with her blood “ _Etsoo Sataan sha’am tu pemoder mendafa’. Etsoon moqaf yerkhomi lakwe em heraa zahomblar.”_ (Keep Satan away from this house. Let it only those who walk by day)  
…

Alexia Benson was fuming, really. It was a luck for Katherine Pierce that she was already dead or Lexi would have killed her herself. Katherine and Alexia had the misfortune of meeting or jumping into each other various times through the centuries and they always ended up hating each other more and more.  
Alexia and Katherine couldn’t be more different indeed.   
Lexi was kind, she believed in the value of human life, she respected human and in fact she preferred feeding herself with animals.  
Katherine instead considered the entire world as nothing more than a sort of theatre where everyone were her puppets to be manipulated by her will.   
Alexia was loyal, sincere and always read to help the other without obtaining something in return.  
Katherine did nothing without a catch, she was a backstabber and didn’t hesitate to run away at the first sign of danger.  
The only thing they have in common was Stefan.   
Lexi loved Stefan like a younger brother and she would do anything in her power to protect him from anyone and everything.  
Katherine instead had an unhealthy obsession for Stefan that steadily and always pushed her to do her worst to conquer him. In this case, hiding his dead body somewhere so she could retrive it after her fight with Klaus.  
Fortunately, Lexi remained in contact with witches who lived there and who owned her favors. Maybe she could convince them to help her to find the find. At least she hoped.  
‘I’m a perfect caretaker for you grumpy child’ she thought.

…

Stefan knew that he was close to his victory. Hell was his playground, he knew how to use hellfire better than that beginner of Katherine, who was yet unaware of all the things she could do with it.   
Also, Katherine looked to be weaker than he remembered. She was a vampire much older than him, so she was supposed to be stronger and faster than him but there was something that constantly weaken her.   
He used his powers to find out what happen to her and he saw through her sins that she tried to kill her Doppelgänger and during their last fight, something was injected in Katherine’s system that made her human again.  
So Katherine died human… Interesting… That meant that he had the upper hand.  
Lovely, lovely. Because now he knew he could make her suffer.  
’Time for revere has finally come…’ thought Stefan invoking Hellfire all around them  
A wall of hellfire appeared all around them.

“Hello and goodbye Katherine. I’m going to send you on fire, so if you have something to say not it’s the time”

“How could you hate me so much ? I turned you into a vampire. I gave you a gift that everyone long. IMMORTALITY”

“For your own profit, not for mine. You’re an evil woman, who used my brother’s affection for you to have your sick revenge on me. I’ve always believed that everyone deserves a possibility to atone for his crimes but you… I see no redemption for you. I know all the sins you’ve done”

He saw through her all the people she deceived, Rose, his entire family, Elijah, before who died for her, because they believed her to be their friend. Fools who didn’t see the snake behind her angelic face.  
He could hear the screams and shouts of her victims and her laughs and mocks while she was enjoying to see them dying. He could see her killing parents in front of their children, he could feel the tears of her victims on his cheek.  
He could see his own face when she used compulsion on him and whispered false declaration of love that concealed an unhealthy obsession that nothing had to do with love.   
He could see his own desperation while Katherine was biting his neck for the first time, or his disgust and self hatred when Katherine used him like a sex doll. While she was taking him and he lay lifeless on the bed, as he was under the effect of some kind of drug and part of Stefan would have preferred because in that case he could have forgotten everything.   
Instead… he didn’t need to see her sins to remember how he felt powerless and humiliated while she was doing all she wanted with his body.  
Well, it didn’t matter anymore because she was going to die again, or better, he was going to burn down her soul so that even the last trace of her existence would finally disappear and there would no be way for her to come back alive.  
Oh yeah… He’d ripped body before but now he wondered… how would it feel like ripping a soul ?   
Would be fun as ripping a body ?   
Would Katherine scream ?  
Suddenly on his beautiful face appeared a cruel smile and the veins appeared long until the chin. It was clear that that guy was no longer Stefan and that the Ripper inside him took control. The perfect weapon, a murder by nature and he could smell that now Katherine was really scared.

“So this is the famous Ripper of Monterey… ah…” said Katherine.

‘You should knee before him, you fool’ thought Cade watching the entire scene most hypnotized. That was what he’d always wanted. His little perfect monster who was right to kill a soul, a sinner, to rip her apart in his name, for a better world. A perfect Hell on Earth where only the purest could survive.  
Katherine was only a sinful woman, dominated by her impulses and who made the entire world uglier.  
If there was something he hated was ugliness.

“Why did you make a deal with Cade ? What did you hope to obtain ?”

“What ah ? A lot of injustice happen to me. My Doppelgänger got everything I wanted only because she was so whining. Poor innocent sweet Elena… everyone failed to notice how much alike we were. Because of her I lost my daughter…”

“Because you tried to steal her body. Do not try to lie to me.”

“I wanted you and I wanted to go Mystic Fall, where I would kidnap Elena and then that stupid little girl and the town would blow up in flames and everyone and everything would go puff. Well, they would turn into ashes and then they would go puff”

“An excellent plan unfortunately you should have known that you wouldn’t have me for yourself anyway” he said.

“What do you mean ?”

“I mean that the Devil…”

Suddenly Katherine’s shape disappeared from Hell and suddenly Stefan wasn’t anyone in the center of that arena, but he was in a place he recognized soon. Cade’s bedroom in the Hellish Mansion.   
Stefan felt the wrath growing inside him and when he saw the shape of the man few steps away from him, he didn’t hesitate to attack.   
He would have never dared to do something like that before but now he was too much furious even thought he didn’t know why exactly.  
He didn’t know if he was so furious because Cade chose to send Katherine to push him in leaving town, her of all people. The person who took everything away from him.  
Or if he was so angry and resentful because he’d never felt the sweet taste of revenge so strong on the tip of his tongue only to feel that same taste being denied at the last minute.  
For too much long Cade denied him the sweet taste of blood but Stefan put it up with that order because he wanted to save what remain of his humanity but now… The Ripper wanted to rip the soul of Katherine Pierce, he wanted to see in her eyes while he split her soul in thousands pieces.

“You can’t deny her to me…” he said ready to punch the Devil

Cade stopped him with his powers, obliging him to get on his knees “Can’t I ? Don’t do like that, it was only a test. I wanted to know if her could be the key to open the cage inside you and set the monster free and it worked and nevertheless the Ripper you used to be wouldn’t have lost time in chats. He would have acted. What else can still stop you from using your full potential ?”

Stefan didn’t answer. He knee that Cade had already his idea.

“Eri… Klaus… Klaus” he heard the Devil whispered.

“Klaus ?”

“You know, Eri would love you even if you become the worst man in this world. She’s your little precious, she is completely and utterly devoted to you. Klaus on the other hand…”

Stefan never knew the end of it because he slapped the Devil in his face. Another act of insubordination he’d never dared to do before but now he couldn’t think rationally. He was tired of hearing Cade’s voice in his head, tired of being remembered that Klaus was important to him, personally, regardless his important for his salvation.   
He was tired that Cade kept trying to send people after Klaus to kill him. Klaus wasn’t a good man but he was trying to be a better person and he deserved a chance to be happy with his daughter.  
Stefan couldn’t care less if Klaus loved him or not, what it mattered was that he loved Klaus enough to do everything it took to protect him.

“I love him… You can threaten him, send the worst of the scum after him, even obliging me to kill him but that won’t change the fact that I love him. I love him… I love him… You must to accept it. I’m not willing to leave in fear anymore”

...

Katherine’d closed her eyes. The last thing she wanted to see was the man she loved using the Hellfire to destroy her soul. She felt that he was going to do it and she didn’t have idea of how she could escape from that fury. Probably the Devil saved her but at that point she didn’t feel so safe as a moment ago.   
Stefan remembered her an important thing. Her powers were given, not taken. Devil gave them to her so he could also take them away. Devil sat her free from Hell and he could always drag her back there.  
She was nothing more than a marionette in his hand and she hated it.  
Cade promised her her revenge in return and Stefan, but he was going to tell her something. What ? Was a coincidence if she was brought there in the exactly moment when Stefan was going to tell her something important ?  
She thought not. The real question was…. should she continue to play a game she didn’t know the rule of ? Or should she just try to work out a real plan B ?   
She didn’t know, she was confused. What kind of life could she have if she wasn’t even alive and if the man she loved told her clearly that he would never love her.   
Maybe… It was too late to steal to her Doppelgänger her perfect little life but it wasn’t too late to do the same with Stefan’s life. After all he was ready to kill her, which meant that once she would be gone, he would do anything to be happy with Klaus and Katherine meant when she said that if she couldn’t have him then no one would, specially Klaus, the worst of her enemies soon after Elena.  
Did Stefan choose to be with Klaus over her ?   
Fine, then she should at least het the satisfaction of killing the hybrid herself. Fate owned her that honor over anything else.  
She ran toward the house but when she tried to open the door something pushed her back and fall on the grass.

“Damnit !!” she screaming hitting the floor.

She had no idea of the amount of time she spent in Hell, she should have predicted that Klaus had to work out something to protect himself and his stupid family.  
Well, if she couldn’t get in she could always find a way to get them out.   
She wondered if she still had her powers… Probably yes. She focused on herself and her sins and she tried to invoke her powers. Various tries required before she could feel the fire growing inside her, surrounding her shape.

“I will set your house on fire Klaus, and then your kingdom and everyone you love…”

Meanwhile, Klaus was in his room where he was taking care of Marcel, who continued to throw up worms and sometime blood from his mouth. Klaus hated seeing him in those conditions and he hated that he was partially guilty, even if he had no idea that Stefan did that for him.  
Stefan said that it was necessary but Klaus wasn’t ready to forgive him.

“So… Did Stefan tell you why you are in these conditions ?” he asked.

“He simply said that it was his fault. He didn’t say anything else. Why ? Can you tell me more ?” said Marcel holding a bucket near his chest trying no to throw up on the bed.

“Apparently he didn’t tell you that he did it this for me too”

“What ? Have you asked for this ?”

it wasn’t Marcel who spoke, but Rebekah who entered in the room in that moment. Rebekah wanted to see how Marcel as going but seeing that the bucket was half full it was clear that he wasn’t improving.   
She was still terribly angry and resentful for all he bad things Marcel did to her and her family. Specially Finn’s death. Even thought Finn’d never been the favorite of her siblings she loved him with all her heart and that was an offense she could never forgive. Nevertheless she still loved Marcel too and she was worried for his health. So what was that story that Klaus was involved with his sickness ?

“I haven’t. Stefan did this for me and his daughter…”

He explained what Stefan told him, about Devil’s order and all the rest. There was no point in lying, he needed Marcel and Rebekah to understand. Actually, he wanted other people to know, he wasn’t sure to be able to put it up with whatever was happening alone. Stefan’d been willing to become evil for him… to protect him.

“He’s always been like this with you” said Rebekah “He’s a good guy but willing to show the worst of him if that means to protect the one he loves”

“A bit like all of you” commented Marcel.

He couldn’t say that he was ready to forgive Stefan for they way he’d been reduced because of him but he appreciated his determination and the fact that when he had at least the decency of apologizing. Something that was considering more like a sign of submission and weakness. Also, he was intrigued by him and all that Sinner Hunter story.

“Rebekah… I don’t remember to have ever met him before… I don’t know how… why…”

“I’ve no idea even… I thought you two had fought or that you’d killed him because you’d never mentioned him once after we escaped from Chicago”

“I didn’t… I don’t… What were we back there ?” asked Klaus.

“Friends. Best friends. Actually, he had this adorable little crush on you but you’d never noticed.”

“Please tell me something more. How did we meet ? What did we use to do together ? When…”

“I think that I should answer when Stefan would come back. I think he has the right to know the truth as well” then she took Marcel’s hand “When I can say is that he was known as the Ripper of Monterey back there. You were fascinated by him but he always insisted in hunting alone. He said that you wouldn’t have approved his… food”

Klaus smirked. His poor palate still remembered the bitter and disgusting taste of the one and only bunny he dared to taste. Of course no one knew that and he wanted it to stay that way or his family would kid him forever.   
Well, apparently the two had had this divergence since then.  
But there was something else he wanted to know…

“Ehm… Have we met Eri before ?”

“His daughter ? I’ve never seen her personally but he did talked to me about her. I just can’t remember all the things he told to me. It’s been a long time” she answered.

Klaus was going to ask her to try to remember more when suddenly they all heard an explosion and the noticed black smog out of the window.  
Klaus didn’t need to look out of the window as he did, to know who was responsible for that.   
He saw her… the Queen of Envy… out of the window. A cruel woman who always wanted what the other had. Their life, their lovers, their things, their money, their hearts, their powers and who had no hesitation to commit the worst crime to get what she wanted.   
Klaus would never understand how Elijah could have loved her before.   
‘It didn’t have to go this way… But you shouldn’t have taken him away from me…’

“What the hell…” Klaus murmured.

How could she hear Katherine’s voice in his head ? Devil couldn’t be serious to decide to turn her into a Sinner Huntress. Didn’t he know she was a sick backstabber ?   
Probably Cade didn’t need to worry about her since her life depended on his will.

“She’s here… She wants me.”

“You can’t go outside. You can’t defeat you” said Rebekah.

Klaus ignored her and he went toward Hope’s bedroom where he knew he would find Eri too. The little fox was the only one at that point that could help him to defend himself against Katherine. He knew that there was no point in running away, Katherine would follow him at the end of the world only to be sure that he was going to burn in Hellfire. Also, he couldn’t even push his family to escape from home, it was the only place where they would feel safe.   
He found Eri and Hope who were writing something on papers. Eri was teaching Hope how to write some words in Japanese.

“世界全体があなたの敵にならなければ...  
世界全体があなたの敵にならなければ...  
(Sekai zentai ga anata no teki ni naranakereba…)”

“What does it mean ?” asked Hope.

“Even if the entire world should become your enemy…” then Eri wrote something else “私はいつもあなたを守ります。  
私はいつもあなたを守ります。  
(Watashi wa itsumo anata o mamorimasu.)” then she translated “I will always protect you. You know, that is the first sentence my otōsan manage to pronunce entirely in Japanese”

Stefan never ceased to surprise Klaus. Even when he was dead somewhere, Klaus learnt something about I’m that convince him that that toddler was the most peculiar and wonderful person he’d ever met. Person… more a creature. It was really something sentimental to say and almost sad due to the life Stefan and Eri have been living together.   
The toddler was right, Klaus would never be able to understand him.   
Klaus’d always been the one who command, the King on the chessboard and who used all the other people like pawns. Stefan instead was one of the pawn, he was ordered around, he had to suffer the humiliation of lowering his head in front of Devil and Eri had to assist to all that injustice.

“It’s a kind promise”

“It isn’t a promise. Well it didn’t matter… Hello Klaus” said Eri.

“Katherine’s here”

“Is she, love ? We need to stop her. She may has powers but if I got her right she will take them for granted as everything in her life” said Eri standing up.

“Can I come with you ? Please, I can help” begged Hope standing up her too.

“Hope… You’re too young to know how Hell could be close to us” said Eri.

“We have the same age !”

“Not exactly” said Eri

“My little wolf…” said Klaus kneeing in front of Hope “…This woman out there… She’s really angry with me and I have to be ready to protect myself. if I know that you are out there I wouldn’t be able to concentrate on the fight. I wouldn’t be able to protect you… My princess… stay here…” then he kissed her forehead and took Eri’s hand.

“Good luck…” Hope whispered.

…

Cade hadn’t felt so furious after so long time… He could have created another Hell only with his wrath in that moment. How did that stupid pawn reject him and insult his grandeur ? The power he was offering to Stefan ?  
How could Stefan chose Klaus over him ? A fallen King over and Emperor ? He… the unique and undisputed Master of the Hell ?   
Who else was capable of creating a world of madness only using his wrath ? Not magic or spells, just his wrath and his desire for revenge.  
No one could compare to him, specially an hybrid like Klaus. A scandal of nature, half wolf half vampire, who wasn’t appreciated even in his own family. Come on…  
How could Stefan love him ?   
How could even appreciate him ?   
Klaus was a tedious man, insidious, useless, worthless of someone life Stefan…

“I would never let this happen… I swear… I’m going to kill Klaus Mikaelson. If Katherine fails, then I will send all my kitsunes, then all my Hunters until he and his family die and…”

“Don’t. Your threats are useless. Loving someone doesn’t mean being together to him. I love Klaus and I know you don’t approve, Master. So I have a deal for you.”

“Do you think that I could ever make a deal with you in these… circumstances ?”

“Because now you know my weaknesses and you have another advantage on me. I’m going to leave New Orleans tomorrow before noon without coming back, ever. I will stay with you, I will obey to you but you have to know that I will never love you” said Stefan looking firm the Devil in the eyes.

Stefan wanted Cade to know that he wasn’t afraid of him. That although he remained a servant, he was going to do and tell whatever he wanted, when he wanted and how he wanted. That Stefan was willing to be a pawn but not Devil’s whore.  
Stefan belonged to Cade, his sinner but nothing more than this.

“Why aren’t you attacking me ?” asked Cade.

“Diplomacy is the better way for people like us. I see no point in fighting when I know that I can make a proposal satisfying for both of us. You have an Hunter, I have Klaus alive. We both win”

“You know that I could have easily kept you even without accepting your deal”

“In that case you would have an enemy not an allegiance. I would be ready to stab you in the back at any time. If you do things my way instead I will do everything you order to me”

Stefan knew he’d won because he managed to hurt Cade’s Pride. He won and Cade felt humiliated and he wanted revenge on Stefan.   
What could be a better revenge than denying from that stubborn and rebellious pawn the possibility of being free of Hell forever ?   
Stefan would be doom to live only of the memory of a simple tase of peace and freedom now on.   
He and his precious daughter…

“And what about your daughter ?”

“Don’t pretend not to know my vow to her.”

“Of I know. I will protect you… blah blah… even if I have to burn in the Hellfire… blah blah…”

“Watashi wa anata no tame ni zankokude yoi koto ni yorokonde imasu. Anata no shiawase wa daijina kotodesu” (I’m willing to be cruel or good for you. What matters is your happiness”

“It’s the vow of a fool”

“It’s the vow of a father for his little girl”

Cade smiled. He knew to have the upper hand on him over Stefan again. Stefan definitely knew how to persuade him and get things to him, unfortunately all their negotiations were always in Devil’s favor. At least the toddler had no illusions about who of them command and finally Klaus would disappear from Stefan’s life. At that point Katherine was useless, Cade got what he wanted, Stefan for all himself and Klaus out of the picture. Finally…   
Stefans smirked as well. Hell or Heaven, at that point didn’t matter, what matter was getting what he wanted. It was clear that he couldn’t be safe, so better concentrate on what he could still take from the Devil.

“So… do we have a deal ? After all I finally understood something that you’d understood already”

“What my dear ?” asked Cade.

“I want power… I tasted it and now I want more. I could never be a normal vampire again, common, weak, mortal. I need this power and if Hellfire is my doom… Then I’ll become evil with pleasure”

 


	37. Forgotten Past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Don't be dismayed at goodbyes. A farewell is necessary before you can meet again. And meeting again after moments or lifetimes, is certain for those who are friends.
> 
> \- Richard Bach

**CHAPTER 37**

  
Katherine was furious. What the hell was Klaus waiting for coming outside ? Didn’t he realize that he was in trap ? That there wouldn’t be escape for him ? Was he continuing to underestimate her ? He should have realized by now that time for jokes and tricks was over.  
If Hell was her doom than she was going to drag him with her not matter what. No one could prevent her from having her revenge.  
Klaus deserved to die for what he did to her family, for having punished all the people she loved only because she chose life over death. That hateful hybrid also obliged her to live in fear for five centuries and laughed of her misery.  
Klaus’ death could also be a perfect punishment for that tedious toddler who, over again, rejected her love.  
‘By by Klaus… We’re going to get alone just fine in Hell…’ she thought.   
Impatient, she was going to use her powers again when she saw the door getting open.  
The fallen former King of Vampire finally got out from his cave, followed by another person, a little girl with bright ginger hair. Probably his little brat, even thought they didn’t look so similar and she didn’t even look like that Hayley dog.   
Well, genetic was unpredictable and actually Katherine couldn’t care less. She had to remain focus on her revenge since she felt that her time on Earth was almost over.

“Well well… for a moment I feared you was going to run away and let your family burn inside my wrath. I thought you were too coward to fight against me now that in my best conditions”

“Best conditions, sweetheart ? You had to make a deal with devil to get far enough to defeat me. Don’t deceive yourself into believing that you are stronger than me, you’re just pathetic.”

“You pushed me in Hell. You let me die and then you took the man I love away from me. You put your dirty hands on Stefan, the only man I’ve ever loved. The only one who could give me what anyone wants for himself. A love that consumes me, and passion, adventure”

“You’re crazy. You were perfectly aware that Stefan liked men and you used to compel him to have sex with you because you couldn’t accept his true nature”

“And you ? You will hurt him in the long run. He will save you you will save him from Hell and then you will think to live in a sort of honeymoon but the reality is that you’ll never be happy. Stefan has morals, ideals, values, he dislikes his immortal form and feeds himself with animals. You instead… well, I don’t have so much time to list all the reasons why you aren’t perfect for him”

Then she attacked him. Fast and anger she attacked him, punching him on a cheek, then she tried to repeat the action but Klaus grabbed her by the arm and succeeded to stop her from behind.

“You don’t deserve him, love…” whispered Klaus near her ear.

“He’s my one true love”

Katherine managed to set her free from his grasp and then hit him twice and pushed him away from her.  
While the two were fighting, Eri observed the entire scene almost fascinating. She was curious of Katherine Pierce and glad to finally see her personally.   
Katherine… Katerina… The Myth… The Legend… her manipulations skills could almost provoke the envy of a kitsune like her, a deceiving creature by nature.   
Eri loathed her for what she did to her otōsan and there was no pity from her. It was too late for apologies or redemption. Eri wanted that woman to burn into her own fire.

“Why him ? Why are you so obsessed by him ?”

“We’re alone and we hate it” answered Katherine “Stefan with his kindness and his gentle smiles and the lack of judgment in his eyes could make you feel less alone.”

“In the end all of us want nothing more than not feeling alone…” whispered Eri.

Loneliness was the beast that no one of them succeeded to defeat. It was the real sickness that poisoned their vein, The price for a power, immortality, an adventure made of blood and danger.   
An hand that dragged yours in the darkness until you saw the light again.  
Eri saw two monsters that couldn’t be more humans, after all, means made people monsters, goals remained humans.

“…So take a good look because you are never going to see me again” concluded Katherine ready to kill Klaus again.

“Here on in Hell… I swear… I’m going to destroy you”

“You’re only a loser. You have no idea of what I’ve become”

“But I do” said Eri.

Katherine turned toward her. What the hell that little brat was talking about ? Who was her ?   
Eri smiled in front of her confusion then she invoked her kyuubi just to show Katherine what she really was.  
‘I bet you’ve never fought one of my kind’ Eri thought, knowing that Katherine could read her mind.  
Katherine narrowed her gaze. What the hell was that little girl ? Why did a fox appear around her ? She thought that kitsunes were only a legend.   
Eri had enough of her, she wanted that life out of her otōsan’s life and out of her sight.   
Maybe in another life her otōsan could have loved that woman, her childish behavior, her ambition and her desire of escaping loneliness. But that wasn’t the case. Katherine and Stefan had a lot of things in common but unfortunately they weren’t going to belong to each other in that life.

“So, which one of you is going to get to kill the illusive Katherine Pierce ?” asked Katherine smirking “The fallen king or his foxy weirdo daughter ?”

“I’m not his daughter and believe me… no one of us will have the honor of putting an end on your life. You have no a life… You’re simply existing in this world and Klaus can’t harm ya… but I can and will”

“You’re a simple little thing, I’m here to follow Devil’s order an…”

Katherine didn’t conclude what she was going to say because Eri scratcher the ‘skin’ of her wrist with her kyuubi. Then Eri came closer to her and grabbed the other wrist, using her fire and she could see that Katherine was tryin to get herself free because her wrist was burning under the other’s touch.  
‘How could be possible ?’ Katherine thought.  
‘Kitsune is an hellish creature when chooses to fight the wrong fight. My otōsan is a Sinner Hunter, which means that my Fire can hurt you as hellfire’.  
Eri scratched her on her face then she put another hand on Katherine’s waist and began to burn there as well.  
Katherine pushed her away with a kick and Eri scratcher her again on the knee.

“Who is your father ?” asked Katherine fearing the answer.

“Your one and only. Stefan Salvatore. The man you’ll never hurt anymore”

Then Eri allowed her kyuubi took control over her and absorb all the Hellfire around her.  
The Hellfire was made of the soul of sinners and their sins and kitsunes feed themselves on the pain caused to them by the various punishments of Hell. She was a kitsune of fire, she was her father’s daughter and she couldn’t fail him, not even now.   
Katherine looked her with wide eyes. She believed that no one could defeat Hellfire that way, or that could be strong enough to absorb it.   
Eri knee that she was going to feel weak eventually, It’d passed too much time since the last time she absorbed so much Hellfire but she had to resist. Katherine Pierce was going to burn in the Hellfire she invoked to burn her friends.

“Anata wa anata ga genki ni modotte kuru jaakuna akumadesu” (You’re a wicked demon to send back to the hell you come from)

Katherine found herself incapable of running away. It was like her legs were made of stone, like that there was a force that prevented her from find salvation.  
Eri smirked. The smirk that was so similar to her otōsan’s and people said that families were such only by blood. Eri and Stefan weren’t genetical father and daughter and nevertheless they couldn’t be more similar when it came to protect people they loved or to hurt the ones they hated.   
It didn’t matter if Cade planned to take Katherine back alive again and again because Eri would killer her anytime and send her back in Hell, with her powers, with her hatred, to have revenge for her otōsan.  
Katherine didn’t even have the time to scream or to run away, neither to think that she was going to die again. The Hellfire surrounded her and burned what remained of her soul.

Humanity is a vampire’s greatest weakness.. no matter how easy it is to tun it off; it just keeps fighting its way back in.

She was burning down in her sins and sorrows, so real, so painful, that for a moment she even forgot to be dead already.

Life is too cruel. If we cease to believe in love, then why would we want to live ?

Her beautiful visage turned into a misshapen mask and she was unrecognizable.   
She’d never felt so much pain in her whole existence and she was convinced that there couldn’t be a worse way to die.

He and I are the same. We manipulate, we thirst for power, we control, we punish, but our actions are driven by one, singular place deep inside… We’re alone, and we hate it…

Fire wasn’t a gentler murder, it was burning her slowly, tasting every inch of her skin and destroying it.   
Klaus was disgusted and terrified as well in from of the power of Hellfire. Strong enough to be able to burn a living soul…  
He was also scared by Eri’s powers. How could it be possible that a little girl like her was able to stop the Hellfire ? And control it like that ?  
Eri was dangerous, just like her father. Weak and delicate at the outside but inside…   
Suddenly what remained of Katherine’s soul disappeared and so the Hellfire. Eri reabsorbed the kyuubi inside her and her golden eyes returned to their normal color, which was a relief. Controlling Hellfire wasn’t a walk through the park.   
But she knew it wasn’t over. It wasn’t her who pushed Katherine back in Hell, someone anticipated her, the Devil, she was sure of this.   
Apparently Katherine still served for some purpose or Devil didn’t need her anymore.   
If Eri knew Cade enough, she would have bet everything that he and her otōsan had a little talk and made a deal.   
For the moment, she could only hope that her oba would find Stefan’s body.

…

‘Of course she would hide him here…’ Lexi thought when she finally found Stefan’s body.  
That bitch of Katherine hidden him inside an hotel’s bedroom, introducing him as her drunken boyfriend, who’d just taken part to a masquerade, at the receptionist, which was strange since Katherine could have used compulsion.   
Probably she’d lost her abilities after her death.   
Probably she thought that she could have Stefan all for herself before to send him away from town, maybe to convince him to have sex with her again. Poor fool, Lexi’d always despised her.  
She used compulsion on the receptionist to make her forget to have ever met her, Stefan or Katherine but she couldn’t take Stefan out there without suspecting other people. It would be too much reckless.   
The only thing she could do was waiting, for the moment.   
She took her cell to write to Eri.  
She hoped that at least the little girl and the other were safe.

…

Eri could see that something fell on the grass as soon as Katherine disappeared. She made some steps toward it but Klaus was faster and he took from he ground a little bottle with a strange liquid in it.

“Is this the potion you prepared for Marcel ?” he asked showing the bottle to the little girl.

“Yes. Give it to him and he will be fine. No more worms or blood. Nothing.” said Eri grabbing her new old style cell.

She’d always disliked that kind of tools. She failed to see the entertainment although she was willing to admit their use when it came to communicate with people who wasn’t gifted with telepathy like her.   
Oba Lexi wrote to her that she’d found her otōsan’s body and that she was waiting for him to come back alice.   
Eri wrote to her that Katherine was gone, maybe for good. It was what they all hoped for after all.

“I have to go. My job here is over. “ said Eri.

“You can’t walk alone on the woods. Not all the werewolves would be happy to see a kitsune in their territory”

“With all due respect, I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself. I don’t need anyone else but my otōsan”

“He would never forgive me if I let you come back home alone”

“He’s not home, but I’m going there and wait for him.”

“I’m coming anyway. I don’t care how older or powerful you are, for me, you remain a little girl and for the moment I’m responsible for your wellbeing. Wait for a minute. I’m going to give the cure to Marcel then me and Rebekah will accompany you to your house”

“Why does she have to come too ?” she asked crossing her arms “What are you hiding ?”

“You’ll know.” answered Klaus entering in his house.

It was a luck that Hellfire didn’t destroy it and that the house was well protected. As he expected her saw the Hope was waiting for him. He hugged her and held her in his arms.  
He was done with people who threatened to take him away from his life.   
Hope was the most important person for him. His life, his heart, his soul. He would do anything for her, as Stefan would do the same for Eri. Probably it was the reason why Klaus could forgive Stefan’s mistakes so easily. Because he understood him, and thanks to think he could love him.  
After all, you could love someone completely only when you understood him.

…

‘It’s always like this… first and headache… then… then the light and the pain…’   
The pain of a body who’s coming back from dead. The realization that your rotten and empty existence wasn’t over yet and that you still had a mission to accomplish to pleasure someone else.   
Stefan’d just lost the last possibility to escape from Hell and he was depressed because of this. He wanted to sink himself into pain, let the world dying or living in that ocean of sins and pretended that it didn’t regard him. He was going to hunt the entire world forever, a sniper who had the world for target. He was the new officially pawn of the silver bracelet had never been more tight that that time. Probably because it wasn’t simply surrounding his wrist’ skin but also his soul’s. There was no escape from him, the heaven’s door were closed and prayed would sound more like lies then proof of a faith he didn’t have anymore.

“Oh, honey, hey”

Lexi noticed he was awake and came close to him.

“You’re finally awake, how are you ?”

“Not good, I want to go home” he whispered but he was sure the Lexi heard him “I’m sorry if I… I’m sorry”

There weren’t excuses or apologies. Lexi’s life was going to be better anyway because he would stop to torment her with his problems. He only had to convince her that everything was still fine and somehow it was, No one of them was going to die, nor Klaus, or Lexi, or Eri, or himself.  
But he couldn’t tell his best friend that the Devil finally possessed himself completely and that it was Stefan himself to propose the deal first. After all those years, Stefan renounced to his pride and sold himself to Devil.   
He wasn’t already to accept the truth himself, surely he wasn’t ready to tell the truth to his best friend.   
What he could say was that he would leave the town before noon and her.

“Sorry for what ? My life’s become more intriguing since the moment I met you. Did you stop the bitch ?”

“For the moment. Katherine is so evil that I used to think that even Hell would have refused her. Apparently not.” said Stefan without any sort of irony or sarcasm.

His tone of voice was simply neutral and he had the sensation that he was going to have one of his depressing day when everything was black and grey. Well, he couldn’t let his depression ruined the time he left to stay with Klaus. He would never see the blond again and he could already get a huge and insufferable pain inside his chest and for the first time after long time he needed, desperately, to breath, because he was feeling like the world itself was trying to suffocate him.   
What was he thinking when he admitted to Cade that he loved Klaus ? Why now ? Why few seconds before losing everything ?   
He tried so hard not to fell in love like an idiot than in the end he’d been caught inside his own trap.  
Stefan’d never loved someone before, not romantically, that was why he didn’t recognize all the signs that could have helped him to run away before it was too late.   
The freedom was only a fragrance of his lost future. It didn’t matter anymore, he was too damaged and that was the real danger for him. His insanity made Hell fell like home and the worst was that Stefan wasn’t scared anymore.

…

Cade was drinking in the sight of the burden soul of Katherine Petrova. Cade still was dubious about the real reason that pushed him of saving Katherine.   
She did her job after all, after all she was the only one who could be so determinate to end Klaus’ life.  
Tyallah didn’t have the same wrath, the same motivation and she also was submitted to some limitations. Katherine wasn’t an Huntress, she could freely hunt and kill in Stefan’s territory, she was envy of what Klaus used to have and she was wrath because Stefan loved the hybrid over her.   
Cade locked her up inside a cell. It was the best he could do for her, at least for the moment. In Hell no one was free but Devil but monsters and other souls were out of there and they were all bad people who didn’t know hones or dignity.  
Cade wasn’t attracted by Katherine but she had something he may wanted… her Envy.  
Pride, Lust, Greedy, Gluttony, Sloth… He needed Envy too. In this case only the Wrath remained and then all the Seven Deadly Sins would be his and he could finally take Hell on Earth.   
Yes, Katherine Pierce was still useful.

“Be happy my dear… Devil only took but a taste of you”

…

‘Lucky ins’t by my side today, lovely’ thought Stefan when he arrived home and he saw Klaus and Rebekah who were waiting for his arrival with Eri. They were sitting on the couch and Klaus looked really… frantic. Apparently even in a million years he would have expected to receive a punch from Katherine Pierce and maybe he couldn’t accept it.   
Poor Klaus. If Stefan could revenge him he would do it but he couldn’t. Tomorrow after noon Klaus wouldn’t be his burnishes anymore and nevertheless they may deserved a proper conclusion.

“Hello…” he said surprised while Lexi was pushing him toward the couch, so that he could sit next to Klaus and Rebekah.

“Don’t be shy, honey. I think it’s the time for being completely honest”

“In fact. You said you don’t remember anything about Chicago, is it true ?” asked Rebekah.

Stefan nodded so Rebekah began to tell…  
…  
 _I remember quite vividly the first time I met you. During twenties I was used to go to dance to Gloria’s. It was very popular among the vampires and humans and Gloria, the owner, permitted us to feed on humans in her local._  
 _Even thought me and my brother still lived in fear, always persecuted by the constant knowledge that our father would have found us there sooner or later._  
 _The first time I noticed you, you’d spent almost the entire night sitting alone, observing the other while they were dancing, chatting, flirting… but you didn’t want to do any of this. You maybe didn’t even want to be there but maybe you couldn’t even barely your own loneliness on your own anymore._  
 _Four evening passed before I decided to come closer to you and introduce myself. You looked rather surprised that someone chose to speak with you,_

_“Good evening sir. May I sit down ?” I asked with malice._

_I was really trying to hit on you, that’s why I was highly disappointed by your reaction. I thought you would have been happy to see that finally a pretty girl talked to you, my I couldn’t have known since then that you spent all night looking at boys instead._   
_You looked at me with wide eyes, like a little child, and you looked very confused._

_“Hel… Hello. Sure… It would be an honor”_

_You were so adorable, shy and confident at the same time. You offered me a drink and you compelled a girl for me. You didn’t know me, you probably didn’t even realize that I was flirting with you, later you confessed to lack of self esteem, which I consider pretty sad because you’ve been one of the best guys I’ve ever met._   
_When I confessed my interest toward you in more directly way, you tried to explain that I would never be your type because you liked boys. It wasn’t easy for you, I understood quickly that you were still pretty ashamed of your taste and that probably you’d never felt free of living a real relationship with a man._   
_It was then that I decided to introduce you Klaus. Don’t misguide, I wasn’t trying to make you fall in love for Klaus, God, I would never say that my brother could appreciate men too. I just wanted you to have a real friend for once, it seemed a good idea back then._   
_Klaus wasn’t glad when I told him I wanted to introduce him a friend of mine._   
_Klaus believed it was a new strategy to introduce my last boyfriend for him and that I was trying my best to make him appreciate my new lover._   
_He was rather surprised when he understood that, in the end, you really were nothing more than a friend to me. Of course Klaus didn’t trust you at the begin. He considered you an uninteresting guy, too polite for his tastes, even boring and annoying and he often mocked you for your hairstyle, not matter how I reproved him for it._   
_One night, Klaus was determinate to disturb you more than usual and at some point you stand off and invited a couple to sit with us. It was then that we both realized that you were nothing less of the infamous Ripper of Monterey._

…

“Wait…” said Klaus interrupting her story after she’d described what Stefan did to the couple “You did something like this. To that guy in the bar. It was the first time you really impressed me. Apparently we are destined to repeat our past” he concluded.

Stefan looked at him and he had to admit that, maybe, Klaus was right. After all, Cade appeared for the first time in New Orleans only when Stefan showed one of his Ripper’s trick to Klaus.   
Maybe the Devil feared he could have remembered something about his past, muscle memory. So… Cade… It could be him, it had to be him.   
For the moment, he would better continue to listen the story.

“Maybe you’re right. I do have a theory but for the moment, I would love listening the rest of the story”

Bekah nodded and then she continued to talk.

…

_After that episode you and my brother began to spend more and more time together. It was the first time that I saw my brother so… peaceful with someone who didn’t belong to our family. You could make him laugh as no one else, I swear. It were centuries I hadn’t heard my brother laugh like that._   
_Of course, Klaus told me to have noticed something weird about you. You’d never drunken blood, neither in the club, neither you proposed Klaus to hunt with you. Nevertheless he could feel that you were particularly strong and I definitively remember that you’ve been wearing that silver bracelet back then._

_“It’s really beautiful your bracelet Stefan” I said “Where did you buy it ?”_

_“It’s a king of family heirloom” you answered lowering your gaze toward the bracelet._

_Back then I thought you were completely honest, since I can always tell when you lie, now I finally understand that you were referring to another family._   
_You looked suddenly sad when you mentioned it, I supposed it was because you didn’t have good memories of your family so I quickly changed the topic of conversation._

_“I wear a family heirloom too.” then I showed you my necklace “Do you like it ? It used to belong to my mother”_

_“It’s really beautiful. You seem to be really close. Are you two alone ?” you asked._

_“Not exactly. We had other siblings but we aren’t close as Nik and me. We’ve always had the closest relationship. People used to think we were twins”_

_“I actually did, before to understand that Klaus was older”_

_“My my, does it notice so much ?” asked Klaus with a smirk._

_“No” you simply answered._

_You weren’t the king of many words even back then, but you were an excellent listener. We both were curious about you, you were so interesting and we liked you. So different from us and yet so similar._   
_You knew cruelty of world, you knew what it meant being alone and misunderstood. Being a monster._   
_You weren’t there with us because of our name, or fame, or money. You genuinely appreciated being with us, more with Klaus than with me, but I was okay with it since I’d accepted that you were gay._   
_That night we tried to find out more about your family, I remembered that I didn’t even know your last name._

_“It doesn’t matter. Stefan’s enough, is everything you need to know. I don’t have parents or sibling, I’ve just a daughter but for the moment she’s not with me”_

_“A daughter ?” I asked._

_It was the first time I met a vampire who had a daughter, so you can imagine my surprise._

_“I adopter her but I couldn’t take her with me in Monterey, due to my reputation. She’s with a friend of mine, the closest person to a sister I have at the moment. For the rest, I’m on my own”_

_Your answer made me pretty sad because it meant that sooner or later you were going to leave Chicago to reunite with your daughter and we deep inside knew that we could never follow you. It wasn’t fair involve you in our problems, we knew that Mikael was somewhere, looking for us, but the only thought broke our hearts because you looked so lonely and we were right._   
_We all knew that bitter taste of being alone in the world, and we hated._

_“So, don’t you have any sibling ?” I asked._

_“Yes, a brother but we haven’t see for a long time. For what I know, he could have changed his name or be dead somewhere. He was a real troublemaker last time I checked”_

_“So is he a vampire too ?”_

_I was genuinely curious to know more about and your family but suddenly Klaus grabbed my hand, like he was trying to tell me do to my own business. Probably he’d understood, better than me, that you weren’t glad to talk about it._   
_Klaus understood your sufferance better than me, just by looking you in the eyes. I was convinced that Klaus was only interested in your Ripper side, the funny ones, instead that time it was like he was finally seeing you for the first time._   
_He saw you fro the first time, he finally realized that you were so much more than the Ripper, than the simple funny killer, someone who was good only to entertain him._   
_Klaus saw something that… only you could see._   
_After that night you went home together. You, Stefan, told him you wanted to show him something._   
_When Klaus came back, he looked worried but he didn’t tell me what he’d seen. I thought you tried to hurt him but then Klaus said that he was fine and that you two would talk the next evening. He needed to stay alone._

…

“Let me guess… The next evening we never talked. Your father arrived” said Stefan.

“Yes… How… ? Do you finally remember something ?” asked Rebekah.

“No, but I can guess what happen that night because it’s happen again, here, in New Orleans. Me and Klaus talked and then Cade appeared, something between us happen and then your father arrived to kill Klaus, as Tyallah and Alistair and Katherine did. It’s not a coincidence. We’re playing the same game on the same chessboard only in different age” said Stefan.

“Do you think we kissed that night, love ?” asked Klaus.

“Maybe, maybe not. Maybe I simply revealed you my secret. Maybe…”

Stefan suddenly remembered another detail. He wasn’t the only Hunter in Chicago. Before or after meeting the two Mikaelson he met another of his brother.

“I met someone else in Chicago back then, I met another Hunter. Someone you both know or not”

“Who ?” asked Rebekah.

Eri and Lexi thought to know the answer. Klaus feels to know it. Stefan didn’t answer. Even thought Henry could have been the one who made both them forgot everything, Stefan wasn’t someone who betrayed people for revenge, not Henry at least.  
Henry was too much important for him, because they could perfectly understand each other, because they understood, just like Klaus and Rebekah, how much important was to keep your family close. For Stefan, family meant Eri and Lexi. For Henry, it meant Stefan and maybe Sybil.   
He was even more alone than Stefan himself.

“Another Hunter, maybe he spied everything to Cade, it wouldn’t be a surprise.” said Stefan passing his hands on his face.

“You looked tired” noticed Lexi.

“Yes, coming back from death made this effect. I need to rest. How is Marcel ?” he asked.

“The remedy you gave to him worked. He’s feeling well, although he lost all his army because of Katherine. He’s pretty angry and depressed” answered Rebekah.

“Understandable. He’ll need time but he’ll be fine, you two have to stay near him” said Stefan.

“Maybe later. Now all I need is talking with you, without fighting. Please, old friend” said Klaus.

Rebekah looked at her brother surprised. It was such a rare thing that Klaus begged someone for something, apparently Stefan was really special for him. Maybe he was really in love with that guy ?  
Deep inside her heart, she hoped so. She’d always appreciated Stefan, his kindness, his general attitude, his intelligent and brilliant mind. If there was one guy ideal for Klaus, it was Stefan.  
Stefan who was… who was looking at her brother like no one else before.   
It was easily to understand that Stefan wasn’t the kind of guy who felt at easy showing his feelings, he looked always so absorbed in his thoughts, in his world, enigmatic, difficult to approach, asocial, a lot, but when you found the key for his heart, he was willing to become anything you wanted.   
In that eyes, there was a promise, the promise of being and doing anything that Klaus wanted.  
Devil was the Master of Stefan’s soul, but Klaus was the Master of his heart. And a man in love was such a peculiar creature.   
Stefan sacrificed anything for her brother, he did anything, he fought his similar, he was willing to fight against the Devil himself.  
Stefan was looking at Klaus like he was the heaven itself.   
She almost felt envy toward her brother.  
Stefan would have preferred not to. He didn’t want to make up with Klaus, it would make his goodbye journey worse. He wanted to stay angry with the blond and that Klaus still held grudge toward him, so that he would be sure that Klaus would never do something stupid like searching for him.   
But the temptation of sharing one last moment completely alone with the bond was too strong, dangerous, but appealing. He needed to spend some time with Klaus, he needed something to cling on specially during the darkest moments of his future. Because his future would be so dark and hopeless and maybe he needed a last moment of devotion and love. The only way to deal with Hell was to do it head-on, but an anchor always hoped to find the exit.   
Klaus was his anchor.

“I still have time for a second date. I would be honored if you gives me another chance”

Eri looked at her otōsan with wide eyes. Since when he became so bold to invite Klaus for a date ? Why so suddenly ? Didn’t they fight ?   
Maybe it was always the paranoid, but she felt that something was terribly wrong. Something else happen between her otōsan and the Devil, something that maybe was going to change all the cards on table again.   
She was tired of games but now she was on the chessboard and she had to play and she wanted to win. But she feared to have lost almost all the paws and that the game was too dangerous by now.   
She shared a looked with Lexi and she could see that her Oba was thinking exactly the same things.   
Something was change and somehow Hell was closer than ever. So hot, so devastating that both of them could feel the Hellfire burning their skin.

...

_The sky was so shining that night and the moon was the only witness of two souls who were chained by chains that even time or hate could break, even thought they hadn't realized it yet. Nevertheless, Stefan knew that something inside him was about to change, or maybe it already changed and he only had to realize it. Why so sudden ? Why now ? Did people fell in love with each other like that ? Few days before their imminent goodbyes ? Stefan knew that he was supposed to leave Chicago in few days, the fame of the Infamous Ripper or Monterey put him constantly in danger, both him and Eri, but the only idea of letting his one and only friend go broke his heart._

_Why him ? Why did he have to complicate his life like that ?_

_Why did God have no pity or mercy for him ?_

_What did make Klaus so special or different from others ? Why couldn't he read his sins ? Was him his soul to save ? How could be possible ?_

_Klaus didn't love him, he only considered him as a friend, his best friend actually but nothing more._

_"What are you thinking about my love ?" asked Klaus noticing that the other was lost in his thoughts._

_The two were sitting on a root. They loved sitting on root and admiring the sky. The silence and intimacy made the moment even more beautiful and special._

_  
"That I'm glad, to have met you. I've spent my whole life alone, or with people who couldn't understand me or simply weren't interested. I've never been the popular guy, always too shy or serious to be bold enough to speak with a stranger first. I'm grateful for your company"_

_"Believe me or not, I've never been the popular guy either. I've always been an outsider, even in my own family. I'm a monster, because I'm an hybrid, as you know"_

_"I don't see where the problem is. You're special, you're now of your kind and you should be proud of it. Whoever tells otherwise is or a fool or simply envy. If you an hybrid, that means that you're the strongest creature int he world. This doesn't make you a monster, this makes you a King. Fight for your crown then."_

_When the other didn't replay, Stefan turned toward Klaus._

_The blond was looking at him with the strange look, like he was seeing the real Stefan for the second time since their first met. Stefan couldn't say that he enjoyed being observed like that, but the moonlight made Klaus' eyes more stunning that usual, so he didn't lower his gaze as he would have usually done. Probably it was the first time that someone complimented Klaus for his nature and that made Stefan pretty angry. What was the problem of being different ? Why did they have to be like the other ? They had no blame if nature made them born like that. If Klaus was an hybrid, or Stefan a gay. They were like they were, simply. In that moment, Stefan got an idea._

_"Grab my hand, I want to show you something fun"_


	38. Beautiful

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I feel a wave of passion  
> Move through my heart with such pain  
> I have no time to reason  
> So I just let passion reign
> 
> I let go so easily  
> On a night as warm as sin  
> Midnight swimmer, midnight sea  
> I will not come back again
> 
> Your love will kill me  
> Your love will kill me  
> And you will bear my curse  
> As long as my life will be
> 
> Your love will kill me  
> Your love will kill me  
> And I saw it would be  
> When I looked at you  
> When you look at me
> 
> Your love will kill me - Notre Dame de Paris

**BEAUTIFUL**

“I’m not nervous and my hands are not trembling. Everything’s going to be fine” said Stefan looking at his own reflex in the mirror.

“Is it your new mantra ?” asked a smugness voice behind him.

Stefan smiled looking behind his back and he saw that Lexi and Eri were looking at him with appreciation and maybe even happiness. They knew he’d never had any sort of date, a part from that short meeting with Klaus at the bar. They knew his inexperience in matter of relationship, flirting and all those kind of staff. He had to look exhilarating to them. Specially Lexi who looked more like a mother who helped his son to relax his nerve before his first date.   
Well, she also helped him to find something properly to wear since Stefan was too nervous to think properly.  
In the end they opted something formal but not too much but that highlighted his strengths, such as his green forest eyes, the height (he was taller than Klaus and this was a victory for him) and his body.

“Am I on time to give up on anything ? We can anticipate our departure”

“Be brave, maybe this is the only chance to confess to Klaus how you really feel” said Lexi.

“We’ve no idea of what’s going to happen to us after we leave New Orleans. You should enjoy a last moment of happiness” said Eri.

Stefan closed his eyes, before to look again his eyes in the mirror. He could see that he was sad, or at least worried and he had to do his best to conceal it. Klaus didn’t have to understand anything or in the end he would make Stefan talk.   
Stefan didn’t want to talk, he didn’t want to remember, he didn’t want to explain or justify himself or his decision.  
That was why he had no intention of telling the truth to Klaus. He promised to the other not to tell him lies anymore, so he would limit to hide part of the truth.  
He couldn’t use compulsion on Klaus, which meant that he couldn’t make Klaus forget about him.   
Klaus was going to hate him but for Stefan it was a little solace, because that way the blond would never look for him, he probably wound’t even want to hear his name anymore. That was the reality, Hell was reclaiming his full attention and devotion and Stefan was willing to become cruel for people he loved and to save his soul.  
He also felt sorry for Eri, because he knew that she grew affectioned to Hope, that the two became friends. For a moment he remembered the dream and all the things Tyallah showed him…  
He needed to hurry up. Eri needed him, she needed more, he had to give her more.

“So, everything’s ready ? We’re going to leave as soon as I come back home” he said.

“The luggages are ready and I booked the tickets. Two. As you asked” answered Lexi.

“Thanks. I don’t know what Cade’s planning to do. Until that moment it’s for the best if… well…”

Stefan was tired of talking about the current situation. It only served to make them all sad.   
And Stefan knew it was only him the one to blame for this. If he had accomplished to avoid any sort of attachment, if he hadn’t been so naive to think that Cade would have let him go without fighting back, now he would have left New Orleans with Eri a long time ago, without any sort of hesitation.   
Of course he had to complicate his own life even more than it already was.   
Eri tried to look indifferent, as always, as the only thought of leaving the only friend she’s ever had didn’t matter, but the truth was that she was sad and angry toward Cade. Never once before mattered to her leaving a town, usually she and her otōsan didn’t remain in the same city for more than two or three weeks. Murders tended to caught public attention, not matter how little the tows or the city was.   
She didn’t even have the time to remember all the faces and names that they had to leave the town.   
She couldn’t get attach to anyone, she couldn’t love anyone, or remember anyone and she didn’t suffer. Now she would, now she had to abandon someone she cared about and for once she truly felt angry even toward her otōsan.   
She hoped he had a valuable plan because now she began not to appreciate the game anymore.  
Lexi instead was contemplating her next decision. She knew that at that point, once she would leave New Orleans she would have to make a decision: being Stefan’s pawn and enter in the game, or leaving him and Eri behind.

“I’m going. I don’t want to be late. I care for good impression” he said.

“Be careful. The fallen King is so perceptive and seems to be able to understand you better than anyone. If you hide something, he will know” said Lexi hugging him.

“I know. Am I handsome enough for an Original ?” asked Stefan trying to improve the general mood.

“Of course you are. Now enjoy your date” said Lexi kissing him on the cheek.

“Atode ai shimashou, otōsan. Tanoshinde kudasai, anata wa sore ni ataisuru” (See you later, dad. Have fun, you deserve it)

“Watashi no kichōna kitsune, go de o ai shimashou” (See you later, my precious fox).

…

Klaus Mikaelson’d always been a sort of predator heartbreaker. Once he put his eyes on something or someone, he didn’t give until it or her or him became his. Even when he was a mere human, he’d always found his way to conquest the girls he liked.   
That was the problem. He perfectly knew the way for girls’ heart, but boys ? How could he court a boy ? What was he suppose to say ?   
He didn’t even know how to dress up if it wasn’t for Rebekah.

“Don’t try to impress him too much, it’s only the second day and he doesn’t have necessarely know you’re courting him” said Rebekah looking at him with a little smirk.

“Bekah, I’ve asked him to go out with me, He’s already aware I’m courting him.” said Klaus.

“Now can you understand why it was so difficult for me courting a guy ? It’s so dangerous makes you guys understand the we’re interested in you because you lose all your interest”

“Yeah, I admit I love the challenges myself.”

It was true, all the women he felt a sincere feeling of love for proved to be a challenge for him: Tatia, Aurora, Caroline, Hayley, Camille…  
No one of them was a simpleton. They were all strong, determinate and confident women, who couldn’t care less of his fame, power and things like that. They enjoyed challenging him, they didn’t fear to express tier opinions, to fight him, to slap him even.   
He admired them all, specially Camille and Caroline. Tatia and Aurora disappointed him in the end.

“What do we suppose to talk about ?” asked Klaus looking at him own reflex for the million time.

“Don’t know. Trying to open up, don’t be aggressive as your usual, if you sees he’s not at easy do not insist. It’s a date not an interrogatory. Talk about your past, the place we visited together, that time you compelled Queen Elizabeth I to give to you one of her necklace or that our family contributes to the construction of New Orleans…”

“Yeah, maybe it’s a good idea. Stefan looks one that type of guy who used to spend hours alone in the library studying and reading book. But I don’t want that our date turns into an history lesson”

Rebekah was going to replay when Hope entered in the room and she looked at her father with wide eyes.

“Daddy, you’re beautiful !” she said hugging her father.

“Never as you, my little wolf. But thanks for the compliment, it means a lot for me” said Klaus kissing her forehead.

Hope smiled at him and kissed him on the cheek “Where are you going daddy ? Do you have to meet with Stefan ?” asked Hope.

“More or less. Would you approve ? Would you prefer that I stay with you ?” asked Klaus.

Rebekah rolled her eyes, she knew what Klaus was trying to do and apparently even Hope.

“No, I want you to have fun. That guy is so sweet and he cares about you, a lot. If you and him are together then me and Eri will become sisters” she said with joy.

Rebekah bursted in laughs when Klaus almost lost his grip around Hope after hearing her words.   
The little girl understood quickly the entire situation and this wit in romance matters, Rebekah was sure of this, Hope inherited by her favorite aunt.

“Hope, one step at time, okay ? Let’s just wish me luck. I need it” said Klaus kissing again.

“Good luck daddy.” said the little girl going away.

“It’s almost time, Nik. You should hurry up. Punctuality is an exceptional bonus to make a good impression. And also for something else, bye !!” she said going away before Klaus could throw something to her for her sentence.

He sincerely didn’t know what to expect from that evening. He’d always hated the unforeseen events, even thought he liked taking big risks when he felt they were worth the price.  
The problem was that Stefan was a living unexpected. He appeared in his life so sudden, like a thunder, destroying what remained of a broken man. Stefan helped him to stand up again, to fight back all his enemies and his ancient fears. Stefan protected him and hurt him.   
Klaus’d never met someone so ambiguous and completely utterly genuine at the same time.   
Stefan walked with his heart on his hand when he was with him and that was something Klaus couldn’t understand.   
Stefan was a player, he considered his own like a giant game of chess where he played as pawn.   
Pawns were easy to underestimate, that was why they were so lethal. Players usually concentrated themselves on towers, bishops, the Queen, to win the game. They ignored that pawns could turned themselves into everything the wanted if they moved them properly.   
Stefan was that, a dangerous pawn that was going to become a more important and dangerous piece.   
Who knew which exactly ?

“What a man… a toddler… a fighter…” he whispered before going out.

….

Henry and Sybil were playing chess in the ling room of her house. Henry had to admit that Sybil’s house was a fascinating hideout, nonetheless under the waterfall in Mystic Falls, well protected by a spell.   
That was the Queen after all. The biggest trick of the Devil was making people believe he didn’t exist, but he was exactly in front of them, so close that it was possible feel his perfume and his greedy for your soul.  
Sybil was the best student of Cade after all.

“Are you sure that they’re going to search the Bell for us ? They don’t seem so bright” he said observing the chess, contemplating his next move.

“I’m constantly reading their mind and controlling their movements. They want to save Enzo and Damon and they would do whatever it takes to find a way to kill me”

“Is that what you make them believe ? That the bell is going to kill you ?” asked Henry moving his tower.

“They hate me. If I’d say to them that I needed the Bell to gain more powers they would’ve destroyed it instead of giving it to me. If they know I fear it instead…” said Sybil moving her horse to eat Henry’s tower.

“They’ll find it, build it and use it against to you. Smart move” he said without knowing what move he was exactly complimenting for.

“They’re idiot and superb, and disperate. Easy to manipulate.”

“They’re also used to win. What are you planning to do with Damon ?” he asked.

“Cade told me that he made another deal with Stefan.” said Sybil.

“Really ? Why ?” asked Henry with evident jealously.

“Because HE’s constantly controlling MY movements. Remember that I came back in the game only because he threatened me” answered Sybil moving her pawn with anger.

Sybil looked at her silver singer and she wandered how could it feel burning it in front of her former husband. She should have been somewhere else doing whatever she wanted. Instead she was in a little town forgotten by God, only to pleasure her former Master. That was irritating.   
Cade ordered her to keep Damon for one more day, as a kind of insurance. Apparently, in case Stefan didn’t respect his deal, Damon would be the first victim of Devil’s fury so that Stefan repented for his offense.

“I wonder what Cade did to finally convince Stefan to completely submit to him. Stefan’s always been the Prodigal Son, from what I gathered” said Sybil.

“I say that I admire Stefan. Cade’s been struggling to convert him to his ideals since the begin and nevertheless Cade still has to use threats to convince Stefan to follow his orders. Fantastic. Only thinking that Cade’s been obliged to deal with someone, even when he didn’t want to, is enough to make me happy… Check, my Queen” he said with a cruel smirk.

Oh how he would have loved to assist at the moment when Stefan and Cade made the deal. It had to be so satisfying pushing the Devil against the wall, even thought He still had the upper hand.   
It had to be so frustrating losing even when you had all the best cards of the deck.   
Henry looked at the chessboard again and for a moment he contemplated the possibility of changing strategy at one step from his victory.   
It was risking, it was foolish, even but now he felt like all cards on table were going to change again and he loved it.  
Oh he knew that Stefan and him were more alike then the toddler would ever admit. He understood it the first time they met.  
Green in the black, black in the green. Between them an hunger that had nothing to do with food or blood, but power.   
Brothers and souls wrapped in flame of hatred.   
Henry licked his lips.   
Sybil noticed that gesture and frozen. Henry looked at her and she began to shiver. In his eyes she saw beast that was ready to devour her entire. Between her leg a sinful desire that screamed to be satisfied. In front of her, the look of demon in the body of a common little boy.   
It was when he moved his pawn again, that she knew that he was letting her win only to caught her in another wine.

“Checkmate, my darling. What’s my price ?” she asked.

“My devotion, my Queen.”

He grabbed her face and he kissed her ruthless and without any kindness and she smiled in her kiss.   
She didn’t want to be loved, love was a sin, but lust was her favorite vices. She loved beasts, they were like her.   
Henry was touching his Queen everywhere, while he was still biting and sucking her lips.   
She was so beautiful in her white dress. Apparently so pure, so innocent, like an angel, but inside…  
Inside…  
She bite his lower lip so strong until it bleed and then licked the dark liquid before kissing him again.  
The Lust and the Greed were consuming another night of passion and desire, but not love. Love was a sin, love was a treasure Greedy had no hunger for.

…

Stefan couldn’t hide his surprise for what Klaus’d been willing to do for make their second date special.   
Klaus booked a table into one of the most expensive and luxury restaurants in New Orleans and not only, he also booked the entire restaurants but Stefan knew that it was simply Klaus’ way to admit to have compelled everyone inside there.  
Stefan laughed for it, he felt flattered that Klaus took so much disturb for him.   
Klaus was really stunning that night and he was happy that Lexi and Eri managed to connive him not to run away.   
It was the first time that he found himself in a such intimate situation with someone. During their first date, they went into a bar and there were other people around them, now they were completely alone and he was happy for this.  
Klaus was glad to spend some time alone with Stefan, without nemesis to fight, or families to care about, or Devils or things like that.   
Klaus needed an opportunity to stay with Stefan, even if he’d asked more time to think better about the situation, now he needed to stay with the other.  
Maybe he should thank Katerina. If it wasn’t for her, for her insane obsession and for their fight, the thought that he almost died, made him understand that if he wanted Stefan to be his and his only, he shouldn’t have wasted more time.

“I’m glad you accepted my invitation, even though for a moment I feared you would have dumped me” said Klaus with a little smile.

“I couldn’t. I wanted to spend some time alone with you too. I simply fear to be clumsy. What do people usually do during a date ?” he asked.

“They usually talk, or flirt. In our case, we don’t lack of proper topics to discuss about.”

“I would like to talk you about my feelings. I feel that if you don’t understand now how I feel about you then you’ll never do” said Stefan snapping the fingers for nervousness.

“Really ? You were so reluctant to talk about feelings yesterday. What changed your mind ?” asked Klaus drinking a sip of red wine.

Stefan bite his lower lips and grabbed the glass of wine in front of him.   
He observed the red liquid inside it.   
Red, like blood, but still not so satisfying. He spent all the afternoon hunting rabbits and birds in the wood until he was satiated enough. He would never be satiated, his Gluttony would never be satiated.   
Gluttony for murder, blood, love… He simply couldn’t get enough of things he wanted. It was a good thing he didn’t remember how human blood tasted like. Would he forget the color of Klaus’ eyes as well ? Or his perfume ? Or the shade of blond of his hair ?

“Because… After that Katherine killed me I was so afraid she could hurt you or worse. I was scared of losing you before to be brave enough to admit that what I feel for you is deep, strong, intense, nothing I’ve ever felt for someone before. And I like when you kiss me.”

“Thanks. I like kissing you too and I’d never thought I could ever feel this way about another man. But you were different for me, apparently you’ve always been… special. I would remember our time back in Chicago”

“Yeah, maybe we used to agree that world is a buffet for the strong”

“What a strange statement. I’ve a more elegant consideration of the world. But I like your view. You must miss human’s blood a lot”

“I don’t remember the taste. I could miss something I don’t even remember ? Well, it’s not important. Tell me something about you, about all the adventures you lived and the places you saw”

Klaus smiled, so he began to tell Stefan something about some of his travel, the people he met, the Queens and Kings he had fun with by making then kneel before him. He also told him about that time when he stole from The Queen Elizabeth I one of her necklace or when he deliberately pushed down the stair King Luis XVI. It had be so much fun.   
The most surprising thing was when Stefan bursted in laugh.   
Klaus remained silent looking at him.  
Stefan was so beautiful when he laughed like that. He looked so carefree, younger than when he grudged and so precious…  
Stefan, on the other hand, was living a dream. He didn’t remember to have ever laughed like that before or to feel so peaceful with someone who wasn’t Eri.   
Klaus was so beautiful.  
The blond couldn’t resist. He grabbed Stefan’s face and then he kissed him. Slowly, at first. He wanted to taste that soft pout, he wanted Stefan to ask for more and the toddler did, when he surrounded his neck with his arms and pushed their faces closer.   
Stefan slightly disclosed his lips and allowed Klaus to deepen the kiss. Kissing Klaus was beautiful because the blond kissed him with kindness and tenderness and he waned to kiss him because he felt something for him. It wasn’t a pure gesture of dominance.   
Klaus loved Stefan and liked kissing him and Klaus was an amazing kisser. Stefan was trying to mimic the gentle moves.   
When Stefan began to moan in the kiss, Klaus finally understood to want more.

“Stefan..” he said while he began to kiss the other on the neck “… I want… more…”

Stefan looked at him with wide eyes. Was Klaus asking him to become his ? Completely ? To give to him what Stefan’d never dared to give even to Devil himself ?   
What remained of his innocence ?  
Was Klaus asking him to belong to him both soul and body ?  
Was Stefan willing to give himself to the man he loved the night before their goodbye ?   
Oh how would be cruel saying yes, giving the other a taste of love before an heartbreak…  
Should he say yes ? Should he say no ? Should he say goodbye to Klaus now ?  
Oh God, why did you make the flesh so weak ? Why did you let love enter in the heart of people who couldn’t afford it ?   
Why did he was this hard gluttony for love ?  
How could he crave a taste he’d never known ?   
It was only when he nodded that he understood to have finally doomed himself to Hell.

…

Klaus didn’t plan it when he’d asked Stefan for a date. But when he kissed him, he could no longer resist. He could no longer resist to his smell, to his desire of possessing his body.   
Klaus wanted Stefan, wanted to love him, wanted to be the first man who ever marked that soft skin.  
No man’d ever marked Stefan’s body, kissed it, and this flattered Klaus, a lot.   
Katerina didn’t matter, because she took Stefan with force, using compulsion.   
What he and Stefan was going to share was completely consensual, true, wanted, real.  
Stefan couldn’t avoid to feel scared and nervous. He was going to make love with a boy and not only a boy, but Klaus Mikaelson.   
Klaus compelled the receptionist of the closest hotel to the restaurant, so that him and Stefan could share a moment of passion and tenderness, maybe even love.  
Stefan’d never had sex or made love with someone after his transformation and now he found himself incredibly shy toward his body.   
Klaus hadn’t stopped to kiss him for even a second since they entered in the bedroom. The blond wanted to make Stefan feel at easy, wanted him to understand how much he wanted that moment, how much he desired him.

“Don’t be afraid love… I swear… it will be beautiful” said Klaus who began to kiss the other on the neck.

It was a pity that hickeys didn’t last long on vampires’ skin, because they would have been so beautiful on that soft and pale skin, so perfect, so tempting. They would have been the living proof that the angel in his arms belonged to him, that Stefan was taken, by him.  
Stefan bite his lower lip, trying not to moan for Klaus’ kisses on his skin. What a sweet torture, Stefan wanted more, so he surrounded Klaus’ neck with one arm and with the other he touched that blond strands.  
Klaus took off his jacket and threw it on the floor, before beginning to touch Stefan’s body, stripping it with his eyes, foretasting the moment when he will lick the flesh under clothes.  
Stefan took off his jacket and let it fall near Klaus’.   
Klaus looked so confident in his gestures, in the way he kissed him on the lips, on the neck, while he unbuttoned the first two buttons of his shirt.  
He wondered how many times Klaus did something like this, how many loves he had, how many of them he loved, how many of them he took. All women, all beautiful… He feared to be just one of the list, like Cade, just one of the many…

“Klaus… Do you want me ? Do you care for me ?”

Klaus looked him in the eyes.   
He perfectly understood what Stefan meant and the blond was determinate to demonstrate to the other that he truly cared for him.   
The blond kissed Stefan passionately, trying to transmit to him all the affection and devotion he felt for him. Love, even.

“I won’t lie, I’ve had a lot of lovers thought the centuries, but for the moment I only want you, I want to take care of you. Please, let me do it”

“Be gentle, please. I’m giving myself to you, please, don’t hurt me”

Then Stefan began to unbutton his own shirt. He didn’t want Klaus to do it himself. Stefan wanted to do it, something he would never do for Cade, he wanted Klaus to understand that he was willing of taking off his shirt.   
One thing was allowing Klaus to do it, another was doing it by himself.   
Slowly, one button at time, maybe to give to himself the illusion of been able to run away at any time, or maybe because it was the first time he exposed his body to someone else and he was conscious of it.   
He let the shirt fell on the floor, exposing his chest, before covered it fast with his arms for his shyness.  
Klaus grabbed his wrist.

“Don’t, please. You’re beautiful. Let me drink in the sight of you. Let me satisfy a hunger that has nothing to do with blood”

“Sorry… I’m just a little bit embarrassed…”

Klaus pushed Stefan against the wall and began to lick his chest, he sucked and licked and marked, while with his fingers he began to touch one of the nipple.   
Stefan tried to suffocate his moan, but then his lovely guy began to lick and suck his nipple and Stefan could no longer resist.   
He loved that sweet torture, he loved what Klaus was doing with his lovely tongue, he loved feeling the other’s hans touching his body.   
It was the first time that Klaus did something like that with another boy and he feared to do something wrong, something that could scare Stefan. He wanted their first time to be perfect, full of love and passion. When he bite Stefan on one shoulder something grabbed his attention.

“Is it a tattoo ?” asked Klaus noticed the rose.

“Yeah, do you like it ?” asked Stefan with little smile.

“I love it” then Klaus took off his own shirt, revealing his tattoo “I have ones too.”

Stefan touched it with his fingers then he asked “I love it, does it have some meaning ?”

“That’s a tale for another time” said Klaus shrugging.

Then he smiled and grabbed Klaus’ hair and kissed him, with his tongue. For once, he wanted to be him to taste the other’s mouth.  
Stefan didn’t kiss a lot of people in his life, so he tried to mimic Klaus’ way to kiss him.   
Luckily he was a quick learner. He was kissing the other slowly, at the first only with the lips, then with his tongue, more and more passionately.

“You kiss like a God… I hope to pleasure you as well…” said Stefan kissing and biting Klaus’ lip.

Klaus smiled in the kiss, happy to know the effect his kisses had on Stefan.   
The blond wanted more, so he pushed down on the bed Stefan, while he took the belt off and pushed his trousers down.   
What a beautiful body, what a beautiful creature, a demon reincarnated inside an angelic body, or a fallen angel caged inside flesh and blood. A creature Klaus would spend his life holding inside his arms. God or Devil, Klaus thanked them both for that moment.   
Klaus caressed the soft skin of the left leg and then he bite it, strong and deep, until he could drink the other’s blood and when Stefan gasped and moan for both pain and pleasure, the only word Klaus could think was ‘beautiful’.

“Beautiful… this word is born with you, love” he whispered while he continued to lick and bite the soft skin.

Klaus really thought it. He looked at Stefan, who was clearly embarrassed, in fact, with his arms was covering his stomach.  
Klaus grabbed his chin and made the toddler look at him. The blond wondered if the other knew how precious he was…  
He kissed him, lost in the taste of passion and innocent of the toddler. How could be someone so innocent being so sensual without knowing ?   
How could a splendid boy like Stefan never enjoyed of the soft touch of love ? How could no one love him ?   
How could someone hurt him ?  
Klaus would kill everyone who hunted the angel under him.   
Stefan knew what submission was, he knew what meant having a Master, he knew the how the Devil looked like, and nevertheless he felt to have just found a new God, a new person to be command.   
Yes, he belonged to Klaus. Klaus was his new God, the new light of his life, the light of his soul.   
How ironic was finding his light in the latest circle of Hell. He looked at the blond guy over him and he thought that Klaus could be an angel who was taking him into heaven, or a cruel demon who put the passion and love inside his heart. Who poisoned a mind that’d never devote a single thought to another person, who poisoned an heart that’d never beat for someone but his owner.   
  
“You’re the light of my soul… You have to know. You poisoned my heart of desire and love…”

‘I’m sorry if I’m returning with Hell’ Stefan thought kissing Klaus again.  
Why ? Why was he punished with a so painful love ? A breathless feeling, a cruel punishment for his crime, a little consolation for years of solitude.   
Was heaven so beautiful ?   
Was heaven blue like Klaus’ eyes ? That same blue eyes that distracted his from God.  
Stefan was annoyed that Klaus was still wearing his trousers, also he wanted a little bit of control, so he bite Klaus on his shoulder while his hands were sliding them down and then he dared to grab the perfect ass on the underwear, making the other moan.

“Someone’s getting impatient” commented Klaus taking off Stefan’s underwear.

Finally he could drink himself in the sight of Stefan completely naked, beautiful like the sun. Beautiful more than any woman he had before.   
Klaus wanted to taste everything of his favorite pray. He began to kiss and bite his jaw, the throat, his collar bone.  
Pushing the other further against the mattress, he bite the other on the left shoulder and licked the line of blood, before kissing the other on lips.

“Your blood is delicious, love”

Klaus began to lick Stefan’s cock, at first only with his lips, studying Stefan’s expression. He wanted the other to feel pleasure, not to feel scared, but Stefan grabbed his hair and began to moan, impossible for him to resist anymore.   
That was enough for encouraging Klaus to continue. He continued to lick and suck and Stefan lost all his rationality, moaning and screaming without any control. He thought he could become mad under that torture.   
He almost came and he didn’t want.

“I don’t want to come. I want this to last” he whispered.

“Why ?” asked Klaus.

“If you don’t understand how I feel about you, you’ll never know… I love you” Stefan whispered “But first…”

Stefan was scared of doing something wrong, of not being good enough to give Klaus the same pleasure and…  
Enough, he wanted it and he was going to do. Taking and accepting the challenge, Stefan lowered his hand over Klaus body, fully removing his boxer and then he touched his erection and caressed it, while he was kissing the other nipple.  
For being someone without any experience, Stefan was fucking good.

“Oh yes…. please…” said Klaus moaning “Beautiful…”

Stefan smiled, glad to be able to give Klaus pleasure. It was strange touching Klaus’ cock like that, but Stefan had to simply look at Klaus’ face and listen his moan to caress his cock faster.  
Now it was Klaus who wanted more, so he ordered to Stefan to lick one finger.  
Stefan could only imagine what he was going to do with that finger, so he obeyed.   
He wasn’t an expert of sex, even though he wasn’t child. He simply didn’t see the utility of informing himself on something he was sure he’d never do.   
Klaus begin to stimulate the other with one finger, searching for the a specific spot that could make Stefan feel something he’d never felt before.  
Stefan considered the sensation weird. He wasn’t used to have something inside of him and he didn’t feel at ease. Then he felt pleasure, something he’d never felt before, something he didn’t think was possible to feel.

“There… touch me there…”

Klaus smiled, then he added another finger and began to stimulate the other boy again.

“Stop teasing me… Please, I want more”

“I know, but if I don’t prepare you properly, you would feel pain”

“I don’t care. Pain has so many shades, I tasted the worst ones, maybe this new kind of pain can still surprise me”

Klaus nodded, so he grabbed Stefan by his waist. He spread the other legs and let them surround his own waist. while Stefan’s arms surrounded his neck. Klaus penetrated Stefan, slowly, trying not to hurt the other.  
He pushed deep and deep, losing himself into an Hell that tasted like Heaven, giving the other the time to adjust himself every time.

“Move, please. I want to be yours” whispered Stefan.

Klaus began to move and pushed himself inside Stefan, hitting his prostate.  
Firstly Stefan could feel pain, but he was okay with it, even though he still couldn’t understand why people loved sex so much.  
It was only when pleasure came, that Stefan finally understood how beautiful was to become one with the person you loved. One body, one heart… one soul.  
It was beautiful… simply beautiful.

  
…

Cade should have know that Stefan had something in mind when he promised to abandon New Orleans before noon. Without knowing, Cade gave him permission to spend one last night with Klaus, so that they could…  
Cade didn’t dare to think about it.  
It only made him see red.  
How did that brat dare to give Klaus what he’d always denied to him ? His Master ? The King of Hell ?  
Oh it’d passed a long time from the his last heartbreak and he didn’t remember it hurt so much.  
Why did Stefan chose Klaus over him ? Even though Cade proved to him that he could give him everything ? A perfect immortality, passion and a place near him in his kingdom ?  
Cade who was the King of Lust, who could love Stefan’s body as no one, who felt an Hunger for the innocence of his soul that no one would never feel.   
Cade who was Greedy for Stefan’s power and for everything the toddler could give and who felt nothing but Wrath knowing that his best pawn was in the bed with another man.  
Stefan… the only one who hurt his Pride… He… so beautiful, innocent, a soul to hold and devour.   
A soul that awaken the Sinner inside him.   
A soul which was worthy commit all the seven deadly sin for.

“Beautiful… An angel who had a devil in his palms. Who tore the heart of the darkest creature of world, who set their souls and hearts on fire only to let them burn in the Sloth. A simple man, vampire and pawn… Oh God, I don’t know the heart I’m praying with to you… But please, end this agony…”

Katherine, Klaus, him… the Darkness that desired the light.  
Cade who longed to find the light for his own soul.   
Apparently Cade would never get his own salvation, he could only try to save the world by sins on his own.   
At that point it didn’t matter if Stefan rejected him. From now on, the toddler would be far away from Klaus, and he would only serve him and his will.   
It didn’t matter if Stefan wasn’t devote to him now, he would be, eventually, when he would realize not to be able to have anyone but him at his side, when he would finally realize that He was the only God he needed.  
Cade looked at the chessboard in front of him. The pieces were almost all at their place. Only two sins missed, the Sloth and the Wrath and then his family would be completed and Hell would come on Earth and a new age would begin.  
After all… The pain was the most beautiful essence of a world in flames.

…

Long eyelashes that made more sensual a sweet childlike expression…  
Sweet lips and slightly swollen for exchanged kisses…   
Messy golden hair that made gold itself insignificant…  
A blessed expression of someone who’d just made love with his beloved one…  
Stefan was allowing his eyes to look at his precious for one last time, while he wore his clothes.  
He could no longer delay his leave, it would only make things worse and Stefan feel that if he didn’t go away now, he would never find the courage again.   
There were no words to describe how grateful he was toward that beautiful man who stole his heart and held it into his hands.   
He only allowed his lips to kiss Klaus on his cheek before to whisper a tearful goodbye. And he also took something with him. Klaus’ jacket.   
He read somewhere that after having sex, one of the two people involved had the tendency of wearing the other’s clothes.   
Stefan couldn’t resist to take something that belonged to Klaus with him. Something that would help him to remember that beautiful night forever.  
He could no longer remain, it wasn’t worthy the pain, he was going to suffer more in the future, there was no reason to rage on wounds still not completely open.   
He left the hotel and came back home as fast as he could.  
When he arrived in front of the building, he found that Lexi and Eri were already inside the car.

“Interesting night ?” asked Lexi when Stefan entered in the car “Is it a souvenir ?”

He opened the dashboard and grabbed the silver bracelet in it and wore it, then he put the jacket on Lexi’s legs.  
His freedom was officially over.

“Don’t want to talk about it” answer Stefan wearing the belt “Is she sleeping ?”

“Yes, she was tired. You smell of him”

“For the moment. Did you decide ?” asked Stefan turning on.

“I’m tired too. I want to sleep. When I wake up, then I will give you my answer” said Lexi wearing her belt.

“Perfect. Have some rest” said Stefan kissing her on her cheek before to drive.

‘His orders, Master, where should I go ?’ he asked to Cade using his telepathy.  
The devil was quick to answer.

 


	39. The little prince of Sloth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I would rather entreat thy company, to see the wonders of the world abroad; than living dully sluggardized at home, wear out thy youth with shapeless idleness.
> 
> -William Shakespear

CHAPTER 39

MYSTIC FALLS TWO DAYS AFTER…

Everything happened so fast that, for a moment, Bonnie believed to be in a nightmare, that maybe she fainted and now she was just dreaming.   
But the blood on her face, clothes, on her porch… the dead body of the man she loved…  
It only took two seconds for the monster in front of her to take her heart and crush it inside his hands, without any hesitation or remorse.  
She would never forget his cruel smirk and his red eyes, the misshaped body surrounded by flames. An Hunter, a Sinner Hunter, who also stole Enzo’s soul and surely brought it in Hell with him. Leaving her in a total state of despair, shock, fear.   
Why ? Why did she continue to lose all people she loved ? Why did it always be her to be heartbroken ?  
Why did she always had to suffer ?  
Why the loss was always the price for the salvation ?   
Why did she always pay the price ?   
Why the tears that wet the floor under her feet always belonged to her ?   
Another scar, another wound, another mourn, she was supposed to have got used to feeling that way…  
She was supposed not to brake down like that, she was supposed to stand up again and fight, to call someone for help, but who ?   
Bonnie didn’t even dare to look Enzo on his face, she didn’t want, not after having failed him, not after having let him die like that.

“I’m sorry… I just… I don’t… I’m so sorry…”

The only idea of Enzo’s soul in Hell was enough to make her want to commit suicide, only to be reunited with him, at least in Hell, but she couldn’t.   
She was going to destroy Hell and the Devil himself, it was the only way to protect what she’d left of her family and world.  
Devil couldn’t win, she wouldn’t permit it. Never.  
She kissed Enzo on his cold purple lips and hugged him tight in her arms.   
After all, death was an old friend of her, and she chose to pay another visit in the shape of the Devil.  
Fine, Bonnie was ready to fight again.

…

Henry was bored. He’d been waiting to receive informations by Sybil about the mission for hours, but he almost lost all his patient, so he temporally came back in Hell, where he had an house, a mansion littler than Cade’s, that he could almost consider home if he didn’t despite the place so much. Maybe he should have warned her Queen that things would have been much more complicated than they’d anticipated, well well. wasn’t she the most powerful woman in the woman ?  
She was supposed to be perfect bye to take care of herself.  
The person in front of him, on the other hand, needed much more attention.  
Henrik was keeping something in his hand, it was a ring, a golden ring that could be compared to a fake ones for its value.   
Arianna, that was her name, or the surname he remembered her with. As the princess of Myth, he deceived her, tricked her, used her, he stole her heart and then married her only for one purpose.  
Henry knew that it would be so foolish plotting against the Devil, without having a second plan in case of failure.   
He ganged up on Devil with his Prodigal Son and his Wife and that was a crime Cade would surely destroy his soul for. Henrik couldn’t care less of Cade’s fear, but if he wanted, one day, become the new King of Hell, he had to survive, something he was a Master at.   
Oh Arianna, the little fool, whose eyes blue as two sapphires, remained enchanted by the darkness inside his, her red soft full lips cling on his and before she could even realize, he was the Master of her heart and soul.

“Today at the altar… tomorrow at the funeral… Poor me, so young and widow already…” he said with a cruel smirk, playing with the golden ring.

He would burst in laugh if it wasn’t for the person in front of him.   
At least that stupid dumb girl proved her utility in the end and thanks to her his soul would be safe again by Cade’s fury.

“Mors tua vita mea… Remember this lesson my dear…” he said to the other person.

It wasn’t a secret that he didn’t live alone in his house. Cade perfectly knew that he had company, a company he may or may not cared about, Cade couldn’t care less.   
The person appeared in his life almost there decades after Sybil ceased to be an Huntress even though he’d been thinking about doing it for centuries.   
Probably because he felt that they shared a lot of things, maybe too much, one of them was being dead before to have lived, and to have begun to live only after their death.

“I’m not simply used you as scapegoat, I’m keeping my word. I knew that Cade would eventually find out that me and his wife were plotting against his back and one of us is going to pay for this. It’s or me or Sybil. There was a time I’d let myself die for her but now…”

Heartbroken was so hard to get over and forget, and Henry was mature enough to admit that he still wanted revenge on Sybil for his pain.   
That was why he didn’t hesitate to stab her behind her back if he could. As in this case.

“Why do you do this ? Why don’t you let me go ?” asked the other person whispering.

“Because I need you. Because for the moment, a part from Stefan, you’re the only think I’ve left.”

“You say we’re nothing. Yet, you care about me”

“You have no idea of all the things I took away from you.”

“You gave me life, you taught me how to read, to write, and I know why you didn’t teach me how to…”

“Enough. Silence is your melody. Your breath is the only sound I want to hear from you” said Henry standing up “I have to go, for the moment. I will come back as soon as possible and when I will… You’ll enter in the game too. Be ready.”

Henry wasn’t sure if he wanted to play that card, or better, he knew that it was the only way to be saved, but he knew that he was being selfish too, which, most of the time, wasn’t a problem for him.  
Purity in Sin, Truth in Lie, Hunger in Greedy, Henrik in Henry… Heaven in Hell… Salvation in Damnation…   
Being nothing and everything at the same time.   
That was his doom and life.   
He was the knight of Hell. The horse was his piece and fought to be in that position.   
If the Queen was willing to sacrifice him to favor the King… well, Queen was a strong piece and nonetheless not the most important.   
Not something he was willing to sacrifice everything for.   
He was the multiform demon.  
The Gentleman that any woman wished for.  
The Fortune any poor peasant wish for.  
The Gold any rich wished for.  
The hand of Greed that offered happiness in change of a never-ending Hell.

  
…

Sybil should have known that Henrik would have stabbed her in the back. She realized it in the same moment when she could no longer control Enzo’s mind, few seconds after his death.   
Enzo was one of the last pawns she could use against that bunch of fools, after Damon.   
Damon… that useless dead burden… She would have killed him days ago if he wasn’t useful for her purposes.  
Well, now that even Henry abandoned her and that her husband knew of her attempt to betray him… there was nothing else she could do but escape.  
Those miserable fools believe to have managed to imprisoned her, that the Armory was enough to locked her up. Not true, since she was wearing her ring and she could absorb even all the magic in that place if she wanted.  
After all, she wouldn’t be the Queen of Hell, if she didn’t have her tricks to use.   
She put an hand on the glass of her new playhouse and then she used her power to brake it.  
It was only a matter of time before that bunch of idiots would listen the sound.   
‘Find the bell and kidnap Donovan. Without him we can’t use the Bell. The Staff is in my hand already’.  
Telepathy was one thing she would never be tired of.   
It made her feel like she was playing a role in a Mission Impossible Movie, where it was possibile chatting and sharing informations and orders without anyone knowing.   
It was also a relief that the voice didn’t belong to Cade. Apparently her husband’d sent someone else to retrive the Staff.   
According to her senses, she could feel that in the Armory there were only two people, the teacher and the policemen.   
She used her ring to invoke an old friend of her.  
She hadn’t been demoted yet, she was still the Queen of Hell, so whoever obeyed to her husband obeyed to her. Included his stupid pets.  
In less than a minute, two kitsune appeared in front of her. One girl and one boy, two nuisances she knew two well.

“Shinichi… Misao… I’m your Master now. I expect your service and obedience”

“Watashi wa anata o shitsubō sa semasen, anata no heika” said Misao kneeling (I will not disappoint you, your Majesty)”

“Watasji wa anata o chūjitsuna animo bedesu” said Shinichi kneeling as well (I’m your faithful servant, I will do whatever you wish)

“Watashi ni kane to kinpatsu no keikan o tsurete kite kudasai. Hitsuyōdeareba kōgeki suruga, tomodachi o korosanai. Kore wa watashi no kibōdesu” she ordered to her two minions (Bring me the bell and the blond policeman. If necessary attack, but do not kill his friends. This is my will)

The two kitsune stood up, then followed her upstair.  
Sybil smiled.   
That bunch of fools were going to have another pleased surprise and that time they wouldn’t be able to defeat her. Specially without the Staff.  
When she arrived upstair, she saw that the blond man, Alaric, if she got it right, was on the phone with someone.

“I’m sorry Bonnie… Listen… try… no… Something’s happen here too…”

“Yes” said Sybil “So say by to the bitch witch and enjoy the party with me”

Alaric almost lost his grip on his phone when he saw Sybil in front of him, with other two person.   
There was a pretty young Asian girl, with long black hair, scarlet all around the tips and black eyes, she was dressed up completely in black.  
At her side, there was an Asian boy, who looked really similar to her, with pitch black hair, read around the tips as well. The only difference were the eyes, his were golden.

“Normally I would waste time introducing you my friends, but time’s running out. Give me the Bell, or I swear, I will take it by my ways”

“We’re not scared of you, or of your… slaves” said Matt pointing his gun.

Sybil smiled then she noticed the Bell behind him and she knew what to do.

“Good. Misao… Watashi wa anata ni kane o casu yō ni meirei suru” ( I order you to go get the bell) then she spoke to Shinichi “Keikan o tsurete” (Take the policeman)

Sybil looked at Alaric and smiled. Now she could have her revenge on that arrogant who seemed to have the ability of getting on her nerves.  
She was tempted to seduce him with her sing, but she feared that she would get bored.   
Fight wasn’t fun if there wasn’t a valuable opponent to humiliate.

…

Stefan was tired of waiting. He completed his task, successfully, since when did he have to report his mission to Devil ?  
It appeared that Cade was becoming anxious and paranoid more and more he was close to accomplish his goal.  
Cade sent him in a little town, Briar Creek. Apparently,   
He didn’t even know why he had to wear his Hunter suit if he wasn’t even working and why did he have to come in Hell ?   
Why couldn’t he simply use telepathy ?   
It was so frustrating.   
The leather pants was atrocious to wear for too much time.   
He hated being alone in the enormous living room inside Cade’s mansion.  
All the furnitures were or scarlet or black, outside was so dark that it was impossible seeing anything but darkness, the only light inside the room came from the fireplace, but it wasn’t a consolation.  
The Hellfire was cold, was evil… it gave off heat only to remind people that it was enough one of its sparks to reduce them to dust.

“Gāisǐ de, wǒ xiǎng zǒu kāi” (Bloody hell, I want to go away) he cursed.

“Oh come on, if you go away now, you’ll spoil the fun” said a voice behind him.

Stefan realized that he was so concentrated on his bad mood that he didn’t even notice that door opening and the steps of someone behind him.  
At least, it was someone he was glad to see.  
Henry Knight, beautiful as he remembered. They hadn’t met personally for years and his astral projection didn’t make justice to his beauty.  
These damn vikings, they shouldn’t be so attractive.

“My my, stop looking me like that, or I would give up on my desire and fuck you dry on one of these couches” said Henry sitting down on one of the three leather couches, patting the spot next to him, inviting Stefan with a gentle smile.

“Sorry, I was being rude.” said Stefan sitting next to him “It’s beautiful seeing you again. I missed you” he concluded kissing the other’s cheek.

“So bold, like in Chicago. No, you were shier than. I had to blackmail you to convince you to kiss me. Should I thank my brother for this ?” asked Henry with malicious.

“News are fast to spread, I see. Nothing to worry about.”

“I don’t agree. You know, my allegiance with the Queen is officially broke now.”

“I presume than the plan to steal the Bell before Cade failed. Good”

“Daddy’s sent a kitsune to take your appearance. At the begin I didn’t notice, when I did, it was too late. Or I fell with the Queen, or I cut off her rope and helped the Devil to make his wife fall faster. I chose the second.”

Stefan was sincerely surprised to hear those words from Henrik. He knew that Henry was a double crosser when the situation required it, but he would’ve never imagined that he could be so bold to stab the Queen too. He smiled.  
Mors tua, vita mea.   
That was the only rule that everyone in Hell respected.  
Cade gave you the freedom of doing whatever you wanted.  
You could take what you want. Do what you want.  
You could fall in love with someone, or kill someone you hated.  
You could pray, or cursed God’s name.  
But there was one wise advice he gave to everyone.  
Never give another person the power to control you.

“You love her”

“I love my soul more. Give a woman you heart, not the power. I’m so greedy to have power myself that I could imagine to give it to someone else. I satisfy her desire, she doesn’t do the same with my hunger.”

“Another thing we have in common now. I taste love, I taste the passion and yet… I want more. What would have been the point of saving Klaus and remaining at his side ?”

Now it was Henry who was curious. Last time he talked to Stefan, the younger brunet was determinate to do everything to save himself by Cade.  
The deal between them wad made for this in the first place. Escaping from Hell.   
What did it change now ?

“Please, explain” begged Henry.

“It’s not hard to understand, my dear knight.” said Cade entering inside the living room “Stefan had simply realized that if he’d remained with Klaus, sing his soul, he would’ve come back to be a normal vampire.”

“So ?” asked Henry encoring the other to continue.

“Being a normal vampire at Klaus’ side would have been like remaining in Hell. Klaus is power hungry, selfish, paranoid, self centered and he would’ve hurt him. Stefan could only choice if being a slave on Earth and kneeling before Klaus, risking every day to be thrown away for another lover, to be killed for him and not coming back, that his little girl ramained…”

“He got it” Stefan interrupted him rolling his eyes “I only chose what I consider it’s best for Eri. The day I became his father, I promised to protect her with my life and I will.”

Henry smiled, with sincerity, for once and he felt envy toward the little girl with ginger hair.   
He wished his mother’d done the same for him back then.   
Why couldn’t Esther be like any other parent ?   
Why couldn’t his mother save him ? Or letting him go in Paradise ? Near God ?  
How could he forgive a family like his ?  
Where brothers sacrificed other brothers ? Mother sacrificed her children ?  
Why couldn’t he chose his greedy over a sweet lie ?  
Stefan could love him, Stefan understood him, understood the abandon, the pain, the bitter taste of Hell and Devils’ lips. Stefan was loyal, he deserved to be protected, he deserved to be part of the new world.

“And me and Henry…” said Cade surrounding Henry’s shoulder “… Totally understand your fatherly feelings. In fact, Henry has someone to introduce you as well. So he can obtain my forgiveness”

“Who ? Did you find another Hunter ?” asked Stefan.

“Stefan… Stefan… To give birth to the new World, we didn’t need of another Hunter at random. We need someone who specifically incarnated one of the Seven Deadly Sin” said Cade.

“Seven deadly sin ? What is this shit ?” asked Stefan.

“Greedy” said Henry shrugging.

“Pride” said Cade.

“Lust” said another person who’s just entered in the room.

Sybil, the Queen of Hell, Mistress of Darkness, Mother of Hunters, and the responsible for his own damnation, entered in the room, followed by two kitsune.   
The girl was carrying a Bell, while the other was dragging a blond boy, dressed up like a policeman.   
What surprised Stefan the most, was that he could feel that the human was alive. It was a rare event that Cade chose to bring someone still alive in Hell, a part from his army of kitsune, apparently that blond guy had something special. Probably something connected with that Bell.   
The Bell itself looked like a mundane common Bell, but Stefan could feel the dark magic inside that object and he immediately feared what use Cade wanted to do with it.

“I do know the seven deadly sin, I don’t need a Religion lesson, all those years spent killing in the name of Devil turned me into a very religious man” said Stefan.

“Then you will easily guess which one of them you represent, won’t you ?” asked Cade.

Stefan snorted “Gula, or Gluttony. Is it the reason why have you been making me starving since our deal ?”

“Not, that was a bet with myself. I wanted to see if you could be the Ripper even without turning off your emotion or not. I wanted to prove to you that you’re evil by nature and that, after all, you’re a better killer when you have your hunger under control. You look more like a God than a beast”

“I still have to figure it out all the picture. Why is it so important to us to represent one of the Deadly Sin ? And where are the other ?”

“Now don’t be impatient. It’s time for introductions” said Cade caressing Sybil’s chin “Why don’t you introduce him our new friend while Henry’s going to take the latest member of our family ?”

Henry nodded, than he went out the room. Sybil pushed away Cade’s hand.  
She was furious with him and she didn’t want him to touch her, he didn’t have to dare to laid even one single finger on her.  
How did he dare to drag her back in the game like that ? Her return in that shit of family had to be temporally instead he’d deceived her once again.

“That idiot is Matt Donovan, he’s an acquaintance of your dumb brother Damon, who’s alive and he’s here because for the moment he’s the only one who can ring the Bell.”

“And we need that Bell for what ?” asked Stefan.

“Oh my dear, conversation of business in front of guests is not polite an…”

“You piece of shit, I knew we shouldn’t have trusted of you, now you also pretend not to recognize me !!” the blond screamed, trying to set himself free from the kitsune’s grip.

“What ? You’re saying nonsense. You’ve been deceived and it’s time you realize it.” said Stefan shrugging.

Now he real couldn’t think of a valid reason to invite that blond block there. Then, he could notice from Cade’s smirk that the permanence of that human in Hell wouldn’t last long.   
Stefan could see that the blond was the typical boy to the next door, devoted to his family, even thought he didn’t approve the attitudes and the excess of his mother and sister. A good football player. The perfect boyfriend. The ideal friend. Someone that once you met you couldn’t do less of.  
Well, he could see the hatred inside his heart and eyes. Matt committed the worst crime in the name of friendship and love, he killed, he lied, he deceived and when he began to fight for human’s side he lost the woman he loved and he’s been blaming the vampires for this. He arrived at the point of breaking her former girlfriend Elena’s heart for banishing Damon from Mystic Falls and he also kidnapped another friend, Caroline, a vampire. to threaten her to leave the town.

“Does he represent Wrath ?” he asked with sarcasm.

“As long as I enjoyed the fury and the hatred inside this gentleman’s heart, I’m afraid that a mere human would ruin the aesthetics of our family. A Psychic, a Siren, a warlock, a vampire, no… a Doppelgänger… There’s no place in this family for him”

“Then for who ?”

Cade smirked then he ordered the two kitsune to take away the prisoner.   
Few minutes after, the door got open again and Stefan remained petrified from what he saw.  
Henry was pushing a wheelchair, where there was a young boy sat on it. He looked really young, barely age thirteen.   
He was blond, with blue eyes, pale skin and he looked quite fragile. He was pretty skinny and ailing for its age.   
He was wearing what it looked like a sort of uniform, with black blazer with golden buttons, black pants that reached up to the knees, the only naked part of his legs, black stockings with boots.  
He looked like a little Milord.   
Stefan found him pretty funny.

“Who is him ? Since when you recruited the kids to kill in your name ?” he asked with venom in his voice.

Cade pretended to think about the answer then his said “Since Henry. Now, don’t be rude, introduce yourself to your new brother”

Stefan looked at the boy and he was surprised when he didn’t notice fear or hatred. Just… boredom ? Maybe a little bit of curiosity, but for the rest, his porcelain visage remained cold and composed and it was almost impossible to understand his feelings.

“I’m Stefan” he said simply.

“I’m Dorian. Like Dorian Grey. We have a lot of in common. Two beautiful dolls, whose souls are in the hands of Devil, manipulated with people around us, like puppet. Until this moment, I didn’t take even one decision for my own life. I didn’t chose to come back alive, to be carried in the womb of another woman who wasn’t my mother. I couldn’t read what I want, eat what I want, say what I want, even go where I want. Devil denied me the pleasure of learning how to walk, just to be sure that I would never leave Hell without his permission” said the boy with empty and cold voice.

“Bastard… how could you do this to him ? Whose his mother ? Why ?” asked Stefan almost shouting against Cade.

“I’m Devil, you shouldn’t be a surprise. But in this case, I’m not the one to blame, am I ? Henry ?”

“What ?”

Henry lowed his gaze, and for a moment his will wavered and so his confidence.  
Was he doing the right thing ? Of course not.  
Did he bring Dorian back to life for his own goals ? Yes, he did.   
Without even wanting, he began to tell Dorian’s story.  
Henry explained that he learnt that it was possible moving the soul of an unborn child into the womb of another woman, so that the child could grown and born.   
Then he explained that Dorian was the unborn son of Freya Mikaelson, and since he was a first born Mikaelson, his powers was immense and dangerous, that was why he was ideal to become an Hunter.   
Henry was aware that he was doing to Dorian what Sybil’d done to him, but at least he wasn’t deceiving him.  
Dorian’d been aware since the begin that he existed only for his purposes.   
Not love him, not to get attached to him, not to feel anything for him, not to feel sorry for him. Used him like the perfect Doll, whose wore only the clothes he gave to him, whose eat only the food he prepared to him, whose read only the books he gave to him. Whose followed his only rules.  
The perfect doll of Sloth.

“How should he kill people if he can’t fight ?” asked Stefan with irony.

“I gave something special for him. Care to show him, Dorian ?”

Dorian nodded. Then he whispered some words and a silver flute appeared on his knees.  
The boy began to play the instrument and suddenly Matt’s body, the only actually human in there, began to burn by Hellfire.  
Stefan couldn’t believe at it even thought he shouldn’t be so surprised. The boy couldn’t walk. because of Cade’s cruelty, he was blocked on that hateful wheelchair, he needed something that he could use, an instrument, a weapon, not a bracelet or something simply decorative that it could be used only after the death of the victim, as in his case.  
Stefan was disgusted and now, more than before he wanted to go away.

“Stop it. I got it.” he said interrupting Dorian, then he grabbed something in his pocket and he threw a little bottle of glass with a red liquid inside it to Cade “You sent me in Briar Creek for this, didn’t you ? Now can I go ? I’m done with this shit”

“Not exactly, but we’ll talk about this later. For the moment we finished the introductions. You’ve already known the Envy, she’s an old acquaintance of yours”

“Katherine… Lovely… of course…”

She was the only the old acquaintance that could be ideal for becoming a Sinner Huntress. Now would have to put it up with her presence for the rest of his existence, it wasn’t fair. As he wasn’t already in Hell.   
But at least now he knew that things were far more complicated and dangerous that he’d anticipated.  
Pride, Lust, Greedy, Envy, Sloth, Gluttony… only one deadly sin was missing, the Wrath and then Cade would have what he’d always wanted.   
Then the Devil would win his game and no one could ever stop him. It wasn’t fair…  
He looked at Matt, whose was laying down on the floor, agonizing for the pain and with burden clothes.

“What are you going to do with him ?” he asked.

“Until I will find the Hunter of Wrath, I can’t do much with him. For the moment, if you care so much for that mere worm, may you can lead him to his new… house”

Stefan nodded, then he grabbed Matt by his arm and disappeared.  
Henry was tempted to follow him, to explain himself better, to make Stefan to understand why he was doing this, to Dorian.   
Why was so important for him… for them…  
But he couldn’t.   
Henry was a cruel person, it was an undeniable truth, a matter of fact, a monster, the worthy son of Devil. It was easy to ignore or not to realize how cruel and manipulative a person could be if you could see that person only once or twice in decade. And Stefan was still in that phase where he believed that there could still be a redemption, that heaven’s doors were still opened to him, that the Hell was only temporary.   
The truth was that all of them already splashed in Darkness and sooner he would do the same too.

“It’s time to go, Dorian. I bet you want to rest” said Henry pushing away the wheelchair.

Now alone, Sybil wanted to talk to Cade. It was time to have a proper conversation about the current state of their relationship. She didn’t want to be his wife, she tasted her freedom and she expected it.   
They had a deal, he promised to let her go. He owned her so much, why couldn’t let her go ?

“I spent almost three thousands years following your instruction, being your yes girl, your devoted wife, your best warrior, the perfect mother for your children. I shared sins and shames and tears with you. I helped to rise this fucking… Hell and you just abandoned me and…”

“I got it, you’re a little agitated or maybe tired, because you’re confusing a lot of events…”

“I’ve been living my entire life in fear… because of you… I told you all you wanted to listen from me and…”

“Speaking like this makes to think that You’s been the only one to give in this relationship, and it’s not true. I gave you immortality, a turned you into a Siren, the first and the only one of your kind and…”

“Shut up you bastard !!” shouted Sybil slapping him “Now you must listen to me and I’m not going to hold back any of the things I have to say. You used me, you abused me, I did everything for you. Men and women fell under my kisses and words for you…”

“And I built an Empire for you too !! I turned you from an useless whiny child into a powerful Queen !! My Queen !! My wife !! There’s nothing I didn’t give you at least once since our marriage but for you it was never enough !!”

“I want your love and fidelity, they would have been enough ! The only two things I’ve ever wanted from you. Instead, you had lovers !! I knew it. You had sex with Seline, then with the other Hunters, men, women…”

“Careful my dear, Lust is your sin, not mine”

Sybil slapped him again. She hated that man, she hated him for everything he’d done to him.  
Her life was a living nightmare because of him. Her soul was trapped by chains that even all her power could brake.  
That demon in front of him took everything away from her, her innocence, her virginity, her heart…  
Loving her was the only sin she really regretted to have done.  
Love made people blind, made people fool, stupid, inefficient.   
Love was the cruelest and most cunning weapon created by Devil.  
She should have learnt the lesson a long time ago… When the Devil caresses you, he wants your soul…  
But Cade’d been a cruel, sadistic and pretentious lover between her legs. He owned to be the Master go her heart, the Lord of her desire... and now she could only scratched his skin to hurt him, trying to grab and recuperate everything.  
She scratched him with her nails, once on his cheek, then on his hand, in the end she looked at her nails.

“Funny… Even dead you can still bleed.” then she licked all her fingers “I’ve been bold enough to give you my heart, now be a man give it back to me”

Then she bite him her his jugular and scratched his skin with her teeth, chewing it, gulping it down.

“Blood and flesh… I fell in love with a demon made of blood and flesh… a demon that couldn’t be more human… a demon that ate my heart as I’m eating his skin… It’s so…” she could no longer speak, she could only laugh at her point.

it was all she could do. Laugh for the woman she could no longer be, laugh for the power she gained and for the chain that gained gained her.  
She was laughing a laugh with the savory taste of tears.  
Cade looked at her, then he bursted to laugh. The laugh of a beast, the laugh of a hunter in front of his victim’s pain.   
It wasn’t a human sound, it wasn’t even a laugh, it was… an onomatopoeia that screamed a victory, the King who defeated the Queen. The Master who still hold his leash on his pet.  
Love was Cade’s greatest victory and Sybil’s farewell.

 


	40. Greedy and Gluttony

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Power in change of love.  
> Lust in change of sex.  
> Achievement in change of a complete submission.  
> Skills, powers, abilities, immortality…   
> Cade offered him all of this over and over again but her otōsan always denied and rejected him.  
> Stefan had everything to give to Cade.  
> Henry not. Nor his love, his devotion, since it was useless when there was fear, and nor his heart.

**CHAPTER 40**

Stefan didn’t want to be so rude, he knew that he was hurting the blond guy, because his grasp was too strong, but it was necessary.  
Even him, an Hunter, was not completely safe in Hell. There were monsters and kitsune hidden everywhere, not to mention the sinners who screamed and ran around Hell.   
Hell wasn’t an ideal place where to get lost in.   
Matt instead would have given away everything to be blind in that moment. So that was Hell ?   
A place where building were dilapidated, the street deserted and red. A strong red wind, or smog, he didn’t even know how to call it. He could even bet to have seen a face in it.  
A scream made him almost fallen on the ground.

“What the Hell was that ?” asked Matt.

“Can’t you get it ah ? This place if all of souls whose monsters enjoy ripping apart. Believe me, having your soul ripped is thousands times worst than having your body ripped. Try to imagine how can be… feeling your soul being devoured by this place over and over again for centuries…”

“You’re a sick bastard as your other minions !!! You’re perfect for this place. You should burn in here for the rest of your useless existence. You vampires’s been ruining humans’ life and…”

“Blah blah blah… Remember that for now, your destiny is in my hand. I don’t want to hurt you, I’ve nothing against you and for the moment, you have to trust me”

“I could never trust you. I told to my friends that they shouldn’t have trusted you and I was right. You betrayed us !” said Matt trying to get himself free.

“Whoever did it, it wasn’t me. It’s the first time I’ve ever seen you. I don’t know nothing about you but your sins, and that you know Damon.”

Stefan was tempted to ask the other how his brother was doing, if he was okay, if he was happy, if he was with someone, if the two of them were friends, but that wasn’t the place or the time.   
He’d spent almost a century without knowing anything about Damon, he could resist longer, specially because he was convinced that the blond wouldn’t tell him anything.   
From his sins, Stefan understood that Matt felt a huge hatred toward his kind, not supernatural creatures in general, but vampires.

“I don’t want be your friend, but neither your enemy. I’m risking a lot for what I’m doing in this moment”

“What are you bubbling about ? I told you. I could never trust you. Wasn’t for your betrayal, it would have been for your nature. I’ve nothing to deal with you”

“Actually you do. If you want your friends to be safe. You hate me already, so you don’t have to pretend anything, which is an advantage. Here all the monsters could smell the bittersweet perfume of a good lie and the banality of a bad one. Now, low your head, close your mouth and follow me”

“What ? If you think that I’m…”

“Please, don’t make me use compulsion. It wouldn’t benefit no one of us. Believe me and I still want to be polite with you”

Stefan smirked, knowing to have won, when the other didn’t replay and simply lowered his head.  
Apparently the other was a prideful one, pride was a good quality when didn’t make people stupid.   
Matt couldn’t compete with him, not on Earth, not in Hell, and he perfectly understood that if he wanted to survive he would better not make him angry.   
Hell was Stefan’s battlefield, there he was the one who commanded, the one who could rip Matt’s soul apart at any moment.   
They arrived in front of a small brick town, where it was possible enter only through a black door closed by chains. Stefan knew that there were locked up the sinners who were waiting to be located in another part of Hell, who were waiting the final judge of Devil.   
Stefan looked up, he knew that there was a shadow man out there, ready to attack him if he tried to enter without his permission.   
The surveillance was excellent in Hell, which was quite irritating in those case.  
Stefan used telepathy and then he talked to the shadow man with Verbis Diablo.  
Shadow men were disturbing, because they didn’t have a specific shape. They simply turned themselves or in what the other feared the most or desired the most. In any case, they were a living trap.  
The chains fell on the ground and the door opened. It was the moment to go.

“Come. You would be safer inside.”

“Who made the chains fell on the ground ? Vampires don’t have powers, so there must to be other creates around here, right ?”

Excellent deductive skills, Stefan could understand why Matt was a cop and how good was in his profession. After all, mundane normal criminals with guns and knives were nothing in comparison with witches, vampires and werewolves.

“Yes. What is an Hell without its monsters ? Cade created everything. Sinners particularly cruel and deserving of punishment were so unforgivable in the eyes of Cade that he turned them in his pets.”

Matt was going to open his mouth again but Stefan pushed him in front on him, so strong, that for a moment Matt lost his balance. The tower inside was dark and bigger than it looked from the outside. There was a path made of red stoned and in front of them, there was a dark desk where behind someone, whose was wearing a green cloak with an hidden that was hiding the face.   
Stefan rolled his eyes, he wasn’t in the mood to deal with that not living nuisance.

“Hello, Irene, Mistress of Hellish Tower. Can you be so kind to permit us to enter ?”

“Ah ah ah… then what would be my role in here ? I still have an offer to propose to that young man” said a female voice.

“He’s not dead. I have to simply put him in one of our guest rooms”

“And did you have to make all the way here only for this ? Seriously ? Why do I have the sensation that you’re hiding something from Master ? Prodigal Son ?” she asked with a smirk, ticking her blond silver nails on the surface of her desk.

Matt could notice that her hand was pale, at the point that she almost looked transparent, as he was seeing nothing more than a projection instead of a real person. If she was a person. And what kind of propose did she have for him ?

“You’re not wrong, again. She’s not here, it’s only her projection. She usually propose sinners a deal, their earthy possessions, so that their crimes would be all permitted. But it’s a trick. Instead of burning in Hellfire, they become monsters, as the shadow man on the tower. Pets at the complete mercy of Cade”

“Oh, you’re not good with introductions, my dear. You pictured me more evil than I actually am. You still have to answer my question”

“Fine, what’s the price for your silence ?” asked Stefan coming closer to her.

Matt looked behind, trying to see if the door was still opened and he could escape but the door disappeared and, a part from Stefan, he was alone in there. Running away would have been an idiotic decision too. He didn’t know Hell, he didn’t know if he could escape alone and there were all those monsters around.  
He didn’t even have his gun, even though he doubted it would’ve worked there.  
Meanwhile Matt was trying to figure it out a way to escape from Hell, the Mistress of Hellish Court, was trying to force herself not to burs in laughs.

“Is in human DNA being so deceiving ? Even more than Devil himself ?”

“That’s not what you truly want to know. Cade’s too much focused on his plan to notice that I’m planning to stab him in the back. Apparently, he’s never been so close to win the game as now”

“Well well… I know why you’re taking that human there. You want to put that worm in that same cell with him. You need to pay my silence.”

“What do you want ?”

The Mistress laughed. She loved dealing with the other Hunters, they were the only blackmailing company she had in there.

“You’re perfectly aware that there’s only one thing I consider more valuable than money and gold…”

Stefan smirked than he said “Secrets”

The Mistress nodded.   
Knowledge was power, secrets were the best way to blackmail people, to make them obey to her will.   
Secrets represented the darkest side of any person and in Hell, where gold didn’t pay the freedom, the happiness or a position; where a monster like her couldn’t fine enjoyment even in sex, or in food; where no one had to offer more than sins, secrets still remained a good way to persuade Devil to make her exist.  
What she knew, sooner or later, Devil would know too.

“What do you want to know from me ?” asked Stefan.

“I want to know…” she said coming closer to Stefan, their lips almost encountered “… Who are you truly betraying ?”

Matt couldn’t hear what the two were talking about but he could notice that the green lips of that woman, if he could consider that thing a woman. Only now he could notice her lips and he wondered if they were on her face before.   
She seemed satisfied by something, but Matt had to wait to ask it to Stefan.  
Suddenly the woman disappeared and at her place appeared another red door.

“Permission granted. Now come. We don’t have all day” said Stefan grabbing Matt’s arm.

“What did she want from you ?” asked Matt.

“The only thing that can still ensure power in Hell, the only thing that can still be considered valuable. Secrets” said Stefan pushing him behind.

“Why did you have to pay her for let me stay here ? Who else is here ?”

“Let’s just say, that I took advantage of the fact that Cade didn’t specificate where I should have locked you up. You’re going to have a roommate and if you play well your cards, he’s going to help you and me to find a way to kill Cade. Pay attention to steps”

Matt was going to replay when he almost fell down again because he didn’t notice the stairs in front of him. Stefan used his bracelet to illuminate the steps for Matt.  
There were a lot of things that Matt wanted to ask to Stefan.   
Who he was going to share his cell with ?  
Why was it so important ?  
When they arrived downstairs, he noticed that there was only a long corridor, so dirty and covered by dust that it was impossible seeing the pavement.   
The blond cop wouldn’t know how long they walked before they arrived in front of the last cell there.

“Now, before you enter, you have to believe me that you won’t freak out and that you’ll be able to find out more about him. His name is Ethan Maxwell, you’re his paternal descendant. I could say to you that he was the one who ordered the build of the Bell you saw”

“The Bell ? The Bell that Cade’s planning to use to bring Hell on Earth ? No, my family… it couldn’t be possible… “

“He was a metalsmith. He ordered the bell in order to defeat Devil but Sybil turned it into a weapon to increase the power of Hellfire instead. She drove Maxwell mad, but I know, everyone know that there’s another weapon. He left a journey, the journey I left to your friends. I hoped you would have found a way to solve the riddle”

“But the plan failed because I’m here and Devil suspects of you. Lovely. Okay, I don’t know why or how I’m even only thinking of trusting you but I will try to find this weapon. Open the cell”

Stefan nodded, then he opened the cell and let Matt entered.  
The blond cop believed to be possessed, since he was trusting the word of a vampire after having swore to let them all burn in Hell.   
But maybe it was right that human’s first instinct was how to survive, not matter how dangerous or weird your allegiances could be.  
When he entered inside, there was only one candle that could illuminate the room and it was almost impossibile seeing anything else. For a moment, he thought that Stefan’d tricked him again, that he was the only one inside that hole but then he heard someone coughing and he noticed the shape of someone who was sat with his back leaning on the wall.   
Matt couldn’t see his face and he didn’t feel bold enough to get close to the other. He didn’t know this Ethan, maybe he had a weapon Matt couldn’t see, a knife, a rock, anything.

“Hello… I’m...”

“I know who you are. I know why you’re here. I know what you want from me”

Then Ethan stood up and came closer to the candle, so that Matt could finally see his face.  
The blond cop remained stunned and petrified from what he saw.

“Yeah… I bet you would have reacted this way… He’d warned me…”

“Who ?”

“Don’t think about it. You want to make another question to me. You belong to my family, somehow. I trust you and whoever promised me his friendship and allegiance against Cade.”

“Do you trust that guy ? Stefan ?”

“I’ve never met him personally, but I heard a lot about him. He doesn’t trust Cade. That’s enough for me”

“But…”

“LISTEN TO ME !!” Ethan screamed punching the wall “I’ve spent more than three centuries locked up in this fucking Hell, alone, in the darkness, driven by madness and desperation. I’ve nothing left but a thread of hope. Only this. I’m clinging on this thread with both my hands, body and soul. I don’t care if Stefan or Henry plan to betray me, or sacrifice me. This is not life, I’m not living and I’m not going to live. The only thing I care is to kill Cade, that’s my mission”

Matt could notice that Ethan’s eyes were bright with tears and that his handsome features defaced by his hatred and wrath.   
Matt thought that his life was a living Hell, but that man’s been living in Hell for so long, victim of Cade’s cruelty and tortures.   
Ethan maybe was right. His wasn’t a life, but an imprisonment, he lived only because Cade wanted him to because the he enjoyed his sufferance.   
Ethan shouldn’t have been much older than Matt when he’d been kidnapped by Cade, but the dust on his cheeks, his messy dirty hair, the wrinkles and the black around his eyes and his violet lips made him looked much older. His pale skin also made him look like a ghost.   
Matt prayed God that he would escape Hell as soon as possible. He didn’t want to be reduce like that, being the shadow of the man he still could become.

“Fine, I don’t like the idea of trusting a vampire but it’s okay. Now, tell me more about this weapon”

…

It was almost funny to think about how quickly situations could degenerate when not handle properly since the start.   
The truth was that they didn’t have any possibility of victory because they lacked the proper informations.   
They knew almost nothing about Cade. Nor his past, nor if there was actually a way to defeat him, nor what he was planning to do in the future.   
Nor his ‘family’, or their roles in his plan.   
That was what Elena was thinking while she was helping Alaric to cure his wounds.   
As soon as Sybil disappeared with Matt and the Bell, Alaric drove toward Salvatore Mansion, where he knew he’d fond Elena.  
That creature, that… demon, hurt him, scratching his arms and braking one of his waist, his ankle and it almost ripped one of his eyes out with its nails.   
When Elena saw him, she was tempted to drive him to hospital but Alaric simply denied and told her that they would have wasted too much time.

“Tell me again… how this fox looked like ?” asked Elena cleaning Alaric scratches on shoulder.

“They, the boy and the girl, looked normal but suddenly a fox surrounded one of them. The boy, but I think that the girl shares his ability. Sybil was their Master, somehow she escaped her cell, but don’t ask me how.”

“We could’ve never won. They just made us believe to have the upper hand, but we’ve been used. Bonnie said that Enzo is dead and…”

“What ?” asked Alaric interrupting her.

“Enzo is dead. Stefan, or the one who looked like him, turned into a monster, probably a creature of the same kind that attacked you and Matt, killed him. Bonnie said that it was because she was having visions, she could see Sybil’s past and somehow the pain for Enzo’s dead is preventing her to do the same now”

“That’s make anything clearer. She already talked to me about this vision but I didn’t think they could be so important”.

“Yes, that’s the problem” said Elena.

They underestimated too much things. They thought that all the Devil’s staff was nothing but a fairytale but they didn’t understand who they were playing with.  
That was why they’d been so easily to manipulate and used, by both ’Stefan’ and Sybil.   
Damon didn’t tell her anything about Stefan, only talked to them about this brother. She looked inside the entire Salvatore Mansion and she didn’t find even one photo of Stefan, nothing a part from that old diary.   
Who was Stefan ? Who was Sybil ? Who was Cade ? Why was Matt so important for them ? What was his connection with the Bell ?

“I was reading the journal that was found with the Bell. It belonged to Ethan Maxwell. I read that Ethan was a metalsmith and he projected to build the Bell to defend his people by Cade and his wife, a Siren. Originally, the Bell’s use was to defeat the Devil, but something didn’t work. Sybil drove Ethan mad with her song and then he simply disappeared, without leaving any trace of his existence”

“So, Sybil was here to bring the Bell and somehow Matt is connected to that thing…”

“Not somehow, he’s connected. The journal also said that due to the power of the Bell, it could be used only by Maxwell and his descendants. So, for the moment, only Matt can use the bell. Is that all ? Who put the spell on the Bell ? The first spell.”

“A witch named Beatrix. She wanted revenge on Cade because he destroyed her covenant. She was a Bennet Witch”

“Apparently the past keeps to intertwine our fate. Even in the past”

Elena was trying to put some order in her hand.  
So, Ethan Maxwell and Beatrix Bennet built a Bell to defeat the Devil; Sybil managed to turn the Bell into a weapon; Cade won; Sybil drove Ethan mad; the Bell disappeared.   
But to built a weapon to be used again the Devil, Ethan and Beatrix had to know something more about Cade, his story, his past. Something more.

“Does Ethan mention something about Cade’s past in his journal ?” she asked.

“Maybe. Some pages’s been ripped.”

“We can’t handle this situation alone. We need to talk together, we need to prepare a plan and we’re not going to do anything without knowing more about Cade and his family”

“What about Damon ?”

“He’s sleeping, for the moment. Bonnie will find a way to wake him up, or someone else. For the moment, we have better things to think about” she said taking her cell.

  
“Who are you calling ?” asked Alaric.

“Help. Kol Mikaelson called me once because he wanted to know something about Stefan. He knows something too. I call him. I’m sure that he can help us somehow”

“Last time we collaborate with a Mikaelson didn’t end well”

“Better dealing with a Mikaelson than with the Devil”

Elena was determinate to defeat Cade and Sybil. Now it was personal.   
Sybil used the man she loved as a puppet and kidnapped Matt.  
Cade sent his monsters to kill Enzo and attempted to do the same with Alaric.  
Now it was time to find a way to attack. You couldn’t always win playing defense, not it was time to attack. To find a way to kill Devil once and for all. She composed Kol’s number and then she waited.  
Sometimes only a monster could defeat another ones.

…

Henry knew it was coming and, even though he would have preferred to avoid it, it was time to be completely honest for once. At least with Stefan.   
He could only imagine how the other was hating the idea of involving someone who at his green forest eyes looked like nothing more than a child, but Henry knew it was inevitable.  
The only reason why Cade allowed Dorian to exist was only because he needed someone to be more like a doll than a person.  
Dorian was perfect, simply perfect. The ideal beautiful immortal doll in the Devil’s hand.  
Like Dorian Grey, Dorian grew up with the knowledge that his beauty would never ceased to exist, never ceased to bewitch humans. Dorian was not allowed to have opinion, was not allowed to do nothing but follow Devil’s orders. The perfect empty shell to fulfill with Cade’s ambition and madness.  
There was nothing fair in this, but at least Dorian had another chance to live.  
Why couldn’t Stefan understand this ?  
Henry bet the other would have done the same for his daughter, without any hesitations, without even asking himself if what he was doing was right or wrong.   
That was what they do, they acted without thinking about the consequences.  
Henry was waiting for the other to arrive in the living room of his house, in Hell. Dorian was sat on his wheelchair, next to him and he was reading a book to learn how to speak Verbis Diablo.   
Dorian was smart and brilliant and he quickly understood things and learnt how to do tasks.  
Henry often wondered how easy Dorian would learn how to walk if allowed…  
Suddenly he heard a knock on the door.

“He arrived.” said Henry.

When Henry opened the door, he was surprised to notice that next to Stefan there was his daughter.   
She’d grown up since the last time he saw her or maybe it simply passed too much time.

“Welcome. Dorian would be glad to meet her, it’s the reason why she’s here, right ?” he asked.

“Yes. I couldn’t care less if Cade wants Dorian to be isolated by the world. I’m not the Prodigal Son for nothing” said Stefan pushing Eri inside.

Eri couldn’t say that she was dying of joy at the idea of meeting someone who, apparently, looked more like a lifeless doll than a boy. She feared to consider him pretty creepy or to offend him, but she was a kitsune, so in the worst case, she was a perfect liar and she would just pretend to be indifferent.  
Stefan was wondering what kind of curse kept him and Mikaelsons so close and yet so distance.  
He and Henry were brothers but they couldn’t spend more than twenty four hours together.  
He and Klaus were in love but they couldn’t be together.   
He took Eri in Hell to introduce her to Dorian Mikaelson…  
Irony was the main shape of this bound.  
Henry envied Stefan’s boldness.

“We should talk alone” said Stefan.

Henry nodded.   
He lead Eri toward the living room, so that she could spend some time alone with Dorian.  
Eri didn’t enjoy the idea of remaining alone with a stranger without her father but she had no other choice.  
The living room was strangely illuminated, which was so rare in Hell where everything was so dark. All the furnitures were white, except for the carpet that was red and decorated with flowers and butterflies.  
There was also a piano, Eri came closer to it to observe it better.

“Can you play it ?”

A young male voice made her jump.  
She turned around, until she saw a young blond boy sat on a wheelchair with a book on his knees. Eri remained surprised by his outfit. She hadn’t seen a boy dressed up like that since the end of the 19th century. Not that she was dressed up more normal. All her dresses and clothes recalled Japanese culture, with flowers and things like that. Even her hairstyles…  
Probably she had to look weird to the boy.  
In fact he was observing him with hinted curiosity and maybe even a glint of joy. The poor guy didn’t have to meet so much people over Henry.

“No. I was only curious about it.” she said coming closer to the boy, then she held her hand toward him “I’m Eri, nice to meet you”

Dorian barely touched her fingers, probably he didn’t get the meaning of that gesture and probably he wasn’t used to touch someone he didn’t know.   
If Dorian had to be sincere, he didn’t know what to think. He’d never learnt how to think, he wasn’t used to have opinions, Henry always warned him from doing something he wasn’t allowed.   
But… He thought he liked that little girl. He liked her hair, they were so red, like the horizon (Henry showed him a picture of the horizon once).   
But her hair were more beautiful.

“I’m Dorian. Nice to meet you. You’re beautiful”

Eri blushed. It was the first time that she found herself alone with a boy of her age and usually the other children kidded her for her ginger hair.  
Dorian instead told her a compliment.

“Thanks. Why don’t you walk ??” she asked bluntly.

“I can’t. Simply. Cade doesn’t want, I obeyed. I’ve been grown up this way”

“Like a doll ah ? Bullshit” commented Eri touching the surface of piano.

Dorian smiled, a little “Bull… Bullshit ? A girl shouldn’t talk like this, should she ?”

“My otōsan usually reproves me for this, but I don’t care. What were you reading ? Can I ?” asked Eri looking at his book.

“I was learning Verbis Diablo. Cade didn’t want me to learn it until I wouldn’t have become officially an Hunter. I learnt all the rest. I’m a… warlock… witch… sorcerer… I don’e even know what term is appropriate for a doll like me. What kind of creature are you ?”

“A kitsune of fire.”

“I’ve seen a lot of kitsune in Hell. They come and go, they conversate with Henry, they barely pay me any attention. Not like you. Why are you not with your pack ?”

“They abandoned me. I was the weakest ring of the chain and they left me. Then I met my otōsan, he took care of me, he loved me and… this. We’re a family. Does Henry the same things with you ?”

“Not exactly. Henry tried to look bold and so carefree, but he’s terrified. It’s so clear. He doesn’t dare do anything that Cade wouldn’t approve. Differently from your father, Henry has nothing left to offer to survive in Hell. Henry sacrificed all his pieces on the chessboard and he can’t do anything but become part of Cade’s pieces. So am I”

Eri rolled her eyes.   
Her otōsan’d always been a better player than Sybil and Henry. Not be scared of Cade was the first step to survive. Her otōsan confessed to her that he’d never been scared of Cade, even thought he knew that Devil had the upper hand and that could rip his soul apart at any moment, but Stefan simply didn’t want to submit.  
He had his opinions and his idea and he wanted to keep them. He couldn’t put it up with the idea of someone else thinking for him.   
Also, Stefan denied any offers Cade proposed to him.  
Power in change of love.  
Lust in change of sex.  
Achievement in change of a complete submission.  
Skills, powers, abilities, immortality…   
Cade offered him all of this over and over again but her otōsan always denied and rejected him.  
Stefan had everything to give to Cade.  
Henry not. Nor his love, his devotion, since it was useless when there was fear, and nor his heart.  
Eri wondered how much Cade’d already taken away from Dorian and what the young boy had actually left.

“We shouldn’t have been involved. This is the true” said Eri taking Dorian’s hand.

“I wouldn’t know. I’m born for this. I’ve only met the Devil personally once. I’ve never made any deal with him, I’ve never received anything from him, I… I… that’s all”

Eri remained silent for few minutes, then she spoke again “I have to go. Tell my father that I will be back soon”

“Where are you going ? It’s dangerous out there” said Dorian worried.

“I can handle the monsters out there. I did it before. See you later, Dorian” said Eri going away.

Maybe she was going to do the most reckless action she’d ever done in her whole life but she was determinate.  
After all, if she thought clearly about it, nothing was going to change in her life.   
She was already on the chessboard, she could only continue to play.

…

“Yes, we’ll leave for Mystic Falls as soon as possible. Thanks.”

Kol closed the call with Elena and then threw the phone on the couch, almost hitting Elijah on his arm.  
God, everything was so simply messed up.  
First, Stefan disappeared, with his daughter and his friend.  
Secondly, the news that Cade sent his wife in Mystic Falls and Stefan with her.  
Thirdly, the question, how could have Stefan been there in Mystic Falls and in New Orleans at the same time ?  
No one had an explanation.   
Elena said that probably they didn’t meet the real Stefan in Mystic Falls, since Bonnie saw him turning into a misshapen monster. But Elena refused to tell him more.  
She only said that Cade was now in possessed of a weapon that he could use to bring the Hell on Earth.

“We should stay out of this situation. It’s not our business” said Elijah.

“Not our business ?” replayed Rebekah “A crazy mad man’s planning to create a new Hell on Earth and this doesn’t regard us ? Cade, or whoever is his name, tried to kill Klaus, to kill us. It regards us !”

“He tried to attack us because of Stefan. Devil only wanted him. If we try…” said Elijah.

“Try to do what ? Making a deal with him ? Rule the Hell with him ? Ah, you’re acting like a fool” said Kol.

“He’s not going to spare us.” said Freya “He wanted to kill me too. Cade wants all of us dead, because we are the most dangerous creatures in the world and probably he wouldn’t be willing to risk to lose his crown. He seemed really competitive”

“Competitive ? He’s winning. He has his weapon, he has his family, he has his kingdom and soon he will have his empire too !” shouted Kol.

Hayley, who was there because Hope had fever and she wanted to be near to her daughter, had spent all time looking at Klaus.  
She understood that there was something wrong with him. Klaus looked distant, he was expressionless and he was acting like the only idea of his world being turned into a living Hell had nothing to do with him.  
Apparently Stefan did really a number on him.   
Klaus didn’t say a world about him when he came back home. He barely spoke with someone, actually. He simply kissed Hope on her cheek and hugged her when she told him that she maybe had fever.   
For the rest, he looked… broken.   
It was only after Elena’s call that Hayley found out, as the other, that the reason was that Stefan simply ran away without telling anything, nor that he was leaving, where he would go or if he ever went back. Nothing.   
Klaus was also a vendicative person. He would have never permitted Cade to win, not after that Cade tried to kill him, Freya and put in danger his family.  
Instead now he was acting like Cade’d already win the game, completely.  
Indeed, Klaus felt like he lost and there were no more moves he could do to win.   
After all, what was the point of fighting ? Cade had everything Klaus used to have and wanted for himself. Power, Immortality, an Army, a kingdom and the man he loved in the palms of his hand.  
Stefan didn’t love Cade… how could he love a man who took everything away from him ?  
How could he love a man who denied him to enter in Heaven ?  
How could he want someone who felt a destructive hunger for his soul ?  
Didn’t Klaus prove to love him enough ?   
That scumbag even stole his jacket !   
Well, Klaus wanted to think that Stefan took it as a memento for the night they’d spent together, but he didn’t want to believe in illusions. He was tired.  
And rusty. He used to be a better player than this. No one would have dared or succeeded to manipulate, us and lie to him before.   
He wanted revenge, he wanted Stefan to suffer, he wanted to brake his heart, he wanted to make him burn in Hellfire and Cade with him.   
Power over love ?  
Klaus would have done the same thing in another time, so he couldn’t blame Stefan for making that decision but no one denied Klaus to seek for revenge. And he would.

“We will go to Mystic Falls. We need to know more about this poser Cade, who has delusions over his omnipotence. He’s not the devil, he’s not a God. He’s simp an idiot who can still be killed and also… He has Henrik”

“What ?” exclaimed Rebekah, Kol and Elijah getting up.

“Stefan indirectly admitted that Henrik is a Sinner Hunter like him. If we found Cade, we find Henry. But for the moment, we don’t know anything about this scumbag or how to kill him. So, we’re going to Mystic Falls. As soon as possible”

“Why didn’t you tell us before ? Is it only a way to persuade us to go to Mystic Fall ? Maybe you’re telling us that Henrik is a Sinner hunter only to pursue a stupid sick revenging plan.” said Elijah.

“Think what you want, brother. If you are too scared to go to Mystic Falls it’s totally understandable. Stay here with Hayley and protect Hope. I’ll go and I couldn’t care less of who’s going to follow me or not”

’So it’s personal…’ Hayley thought.  
Of course it was. Hayley didn’t know a lot about Henrik, only that he was the youngest Mikaelson and that his death had ratified the begin of the war between vampires and werewolves and the utterly hatred of Mikael toward Klaus.   
Elijah confessed her that Henrik’s death was an open wound for them all and that was why they avoided to talk about it, almost pretending that Henrik simply never existed.   
That as how Mikaelsons deal with things that hurt them, they simply ignored them and pretended they’d never happen.   
Well, Cade wasn’t someone Klaus intended to ignore, that was sure.   
What scared her the most was the possibility that Klaus could do something extreme, or coming back to be his old self to defeat Cade.  
Rebekah and Kol declared that they were going to Mystc with Klaus, so Freya.  
She hoped to save another of her sibling, and to finally meet him.  
Elijah was wavering, since he still have doubts that Henrik was alive or not, but he couldn’t let his family fight the Devil alone so he simply nodded.   
Family was power and blood the strongest of the bound, the only one which was worthy fighting for and if their souls had to be consumed in Hellfire, then let he would accept it.  
Hell was burning but New Orleans wouldn’t be reduced in dust by it. 


	41. Falling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You were my source of strength  
> I've traded everything  
> That I love for this one thing  
> (Stranded in the offering)  
> Don't leave me here like this  
> Can't hear me scream from the abyss  
> And now I wish for you my desire
> 
> Don't leave me alone  
> Cause I barely see at all  
> Don't leave me alone, I'm
> 
> [Chorus:]  
> Falling in the black  
> Slipping through the cracks  
> Falling to the depths can I ever go back  
> Dreaming of the way it used to be  
> Can you hear me?
> 
> Falling inside the Black - Skillet

**CHAPTER 41**

  
Hell wasn’t a scary place, after you’d learnt how to deal and accept the worst part of yourself.   
The sinner, the monster, the beast…  
Hell was fair, it didn’t lie, it didn’t deceive, it showed you what you really were, the true color of your soul and it received you.  
It was the place where Stefan belonged to.  
Unfortunately, Hell was a place of punishment and it didn’t end with Stefan.  
The King of that kingdom of misery was planning to take another thing away from Stefan, to eat the most important piece on his chessboard, the only person that made Stefan feel human, normal, happy…  
The only person who was really precious to him…  
Stefan couldn’t let that happen.   
Dorian didn’t tell him where Eri was, because the boy didn’t know it himself, but Stefan knew, he felt.  
Eri hated Cade, she despised that man with every fiber of her being and she wanted to burn Cade in his own fire, destroy his stupid UTOPIA of a perfect world, where people would have struggle for their safety and forgiveness. A world where only the pure ones would have been free from the flames.   
Eri didn’t believe in it, and neither Stefan.  
Cade simply couldn’t understand that world was perfect only because it was made by thousands imperfections, and shapes of purity and sin.   
He wanted to turn all the world into a putrified prison made of darkness, dust and dead eyes for empty shells.   
That was Stefan’s world already, Eri didn’t have to share his same burden. He would never permitted.   
That was the difference between him and Cade.  
Cade was a parasite, a virus, who poisoned other’s heart and feed himself on other’s dream, hope, love.   
Cade didn’t care about his victims, women, men, children, witch, vampires… Hell was cruel with everyone, differences had no value.   
Stefan couldn’t. He had his daughter, his had Lexi, he had someone to lose, he still cared about people and still understood the importance of a life.   
Stefan had no delusions, he knew he wasn’t a God, it wasn’t him who was supposed to judge other people.   
His legs hurt when he arrived in front of the Mansion’s gates.   
He hoped not to be late.

…

Cade was surprisingly happy for how situation’d developed on his favor. He hoped not that moment to came.  
Eri Salvatore was the last barrier that divided him and Stefan, the last obstacle for Stefan to finally see and accept his Utopia. The flames of her Wrath prevented the Hellfire to burn Stefan’s soul.  
But if Eri became a Sinner Huntress, her flames would be part of Hellfire and so Stefan would finally become an officially member of his family. Completely and utterly devoted to him. A deep believer of the new world Cade wanted to create.  
He would finally become Stefan’s God.  
Eri could see and notice the disgusting and perverse thoughts that Cade forced to hide behind his eyes, but she didn’t lower her gaze.   
She wanted Cade to look her in the eyes when he turned her into another of his pawn. A child like her.  
She could see the lust in Cade’s eyes, the pride for another victory, the greedy because now he hoped to get more and more from her, the glutton of his mouth who wanted to devour her…

“Nǐ shì yīgè ěxīn de rén” (you’re a disgusting man) she said shaking his hand.

“You will have a lot of time to accept me. Sooner or later you will agree with me, you will share my utopia and will your father. He’s the one I want and you’re offering him to me.” said Cade.

“I’m not doing any of this. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer, that’s all. I’m going to find a way to kill you and destroy your stupid utopia. For the moment, I’m here to offer you my powers.” said Eri

“You’re bold, to be so young, and you’re wise. I don’t care if I can’t have your father’s innocence, if he swore his heart to another man, is his body’d been already marked by this other guy…”

“Oh, I see jealously in your eyes… What does my father to man I wonder ? He doesn’t offer more than a taste of himself. Enough to drive men mad, not enough to satisfy them. If you weren’t the reason for my unhappiness I would feel almost pity for you”.

Cade wanted to slap that arrogant face for her inopportune words. No one dared to speak to him, the Devil, like that. Everyone had to respect him, everyone owned him devotion. Not matter how young they were, if they were women or men.

“Watch you mouth, little girl. Here I rule and I can destroy your soul, only using words.”

“Desire, jealously, suspicion… I wonder what of these three things will be your downfall. You don’t trust my father because you know that he will never be yours. When you look at him, you wondered where Klaus kissed or bite him. Pathetic”

“Don’t test my patient my dear. Nor if you want to become a part of his new world. I don’t expect you to believe in my utopia, I don’t expect you to accept my hunger and my lust for your father’s soul. But if you want me to accept your proposal then…”

“I know. My soul is yours now. My wrath will help you to create a new World. I accept to help you”

“Excellent… than this is yours…”

A silver butterfly shaped hair clip appeared on her hair. The sign that now she was officially a Sinner Huntress. A member of the Unholy Family, like her otōsan, like Dorian.   
She was officially part of everything she’d despised until that moment.

“I don’t want this useless decoration…”

“Then what do you want ?” asked Cade blinking.

“A sword… Give me a sward !” said Eri.

That was Hell. She was on the dance floor and she could only dance.  
Desire, jealously, suspicion, anger, betrayal, pride, gluttony, greedy, passion, lust…   
She would have never thought that a person could feel all those emotions at once. Wrath devoured any other emotion she could feel.  
She grabbed the hair clip and then she used it to hit Cade on his hand. As she suspected the clip began to burn immediately.  
Cade was made of blood and sins. A skin dark as his soul, his eyes black as the nights in Hell. Without any light.   
How could someone ever love him she wondered ?  
She was going to speak again when suddenly the door got opened and her otōsan, flustered and breathless entered.  
‘Tài wǎnle, bàba’ (too late, father) she thought.   
When Stefan entered in the room and he noticed the hair clip in Eri’s hand, he fell on his knees. Defeated.   
How could he arrive late ?  
How couldn’t he predict this ?

“Why…” he whispered “… Why do you hate me so much ?”

Cade put an hand on Eri’s shoulder then he said “I believe that this must be a private conversation my dear. Please, leave us alone”

“Don’t touch me” said Eri.

“Aren’t you even than me for this ?” asked Cade turning the hair clip into a splendid silver sword.

Eri simply ignored him and couldn’t be happier to go away, even though she didn’t want to leave her otōsan alone with that man of malfeasance, but she had to obey.   
She kneeled next to the most important man of her life and kissed him on his cheek. Then she went away.  
Stefan wanted to take her back, to hug her, to implore her to change her mind, to run away from him and restart another life. But he didn’t. He couldn’t.   
He was too angry with Cade.

“Why did you do it ?”

“Because she’s your daughter. She would become part of my family anyway. It’s a great honor, since she’s going to rule the new world, with you, with me. Next to Dorian.”

“They’re just kids !!” shouted Stefan grabbing Cade by his shoulders.

“Kids of the war and the purification. Kids of a new generations, designated to the grandeur and the fame. We’re going to create a new world together.”

“You’re just insane !! No one believes in your stupid utopia !”

“An utopia that has never looked so real in my eyes. So close than I can almost touch it with my fingers.”

“You only kill people or send other to do the dirty job for you”

“I kill murders, rapists, thieves, the scum and the rubbish of the society !! I’m going to change the fundamental of this world in decline. I’m going to build a new world, without sins, pure in his deepest essence. But before doing it, I have to bring Hell on Earth, because to create a new world it’s necessary destroy the old one and from its dust a new era will begin”

“You do have a God complex”

Only now Stefan realized the extent of Cade’s madness.   
A God complex… of course.  
It couldn’t be anything else. No one sane of mind would have the illusion of being the Devil and have the right of judge someone for his bad actions.   
Stefan didn’t see any justice in what Cade was doing. He wasn’t any better of the people he ordered him to kill.  
Cade was a murderer of innocence and people.  
Cade was a rapist, Stefan was sure of it. Hell was a place full of gossip about his sexual activities.  
Cade was a thieves, who took what he wanted away from other people. Their life, their heart, their dignity.  
He was a living imperfection who wanted a world completely perfect.   
Tyrant.   
Stefan didn’t approve his doctrine, his fantasy, nothing of that man,  
So strong to be able to dominate the world, not enough not to be dominated by his own impulses.

“No complexes Stefan. I died because of the ignorance of people and I killed them for this. They were all murders and deserved to pay for the dead of an innocent person. I killed all of them, I didn’t care if they were my father, my mother or a stranger. I don’t care if I ordered you to kill a father, or a brother, or a son… this world need a new guidance !!”

“I could I ever follow a man who’s already turned my daughter into one of his pawns ? Without even asking my permission ? Who do you think I am ? Henry ? Sybil ?”

“I consider you one of my best men. My son. My hunter. Mine.”

“I’m not your property. I know how love is like. I know the differences between a luxurious gesture of possession and a tender caress of love. You can’t trick my love with your lust”

“With time. I’m a patient man. You will be mine, eventually, you will forget Klaus, erase his touch by both your mind and body. His kisses will be only a remote memorie.”

“Strange, because now I wish I had never met you and to forget you as soon as possible. Hate, is the only feeling I can hold for you !” he shouted “You murderer, do you really think that only because you create this place, made of fire, and darkness, and dust and monsters you could call yourself a Devil ? You’re not the only who create another world to souls like you”

“I’m perfectly aware of it. But guess what ? Quetsyia had no vision. She created the other side only for her own benefit, her revenge over the man she loved. I had a vision when I created Hell. I have a vision now. You will be happy and grateful that your daughter will live in a world pure and perfect. You all will be”

“I could never be grateful to a man who destroyed my family”

Then Stefan turned around, determinate to go away and put distance between him and that horrible man. But Cade had another thing to say.

“Stefan, I advice to come back to our guest and see if he’s willing to collaborate. Of course remember him that it’s in his best interest.”

“As you wish… Akuma” (Demon)

Cade smirked then he looked Stefan and follow him with his eyes until the vampire disappeared.  
Sooner or later, Stefan would understand and approve his actions.  
Cade would be his God, his Master, the Owner of his heart.  
Sin into redemption.  
Hatred in Love.  
Darkness in light.  
Hell in Heaven.  
A world in decline into a new world.  
Devil in God.  
An Utopia in Reality.

….

Eri didn’t know why he came back there instead of escaping Hell and coming back into the real world, to her house, where she knew she would have felt safe.  
Instead she was there, sat on the couch next to Dorian.  
Was she the only one who saw him for who he really was ?  
Dorian had an expressionless face, everything around him, even the book he was reading, seemed to bore him to death, but it was only a facade to hide his ignorance. Because he’d never had the opportunity to find out what exactly could or couldn’t entertain or pleasure him.  
If she asked him what he thought of the book, he wouldn’t have been able to answer her, because someone else’d thought for him until that moment.  
She looked at his legs and arms, they were so thin, so frail. Probably he’d never walked without the wheelchair in his life.  
He couldn’t walk, so he couldn’t run away. What a cruelty.

“Zaijakuna tsuyo-sa. Masutāmī no teishutsu. Bōryoku no eregansu. Jinsei no shi. Kikuzu no chikara. Dorian Knight, herishiddochesu-ban no tō” Dorian said suddenly looking her right in her eyes.

“Strength in fragility. Mastery in submission. Elegance in violence. Death in life. Power in Sloth. Dorian Knight, tower of the hellish chessboard.” translated Eri “You can speak my language” she stated surprised.

“I told you. Henry’s been preparing me for the day I would officially become an Hunter since the day I was born.”

“I thought you were dead, you know that you’re mother had…”

“Yes, but Henry found out that there was a spell capable of attracting the spirits of unborn children, so that they would be transferred in the womb of another woman. No blood ties or special conditions are needed, but the surrogate mother simply needs to be healthy and strong enough to hold the spell, or she will die and so the baby.”

“Where’s she ?”

“Henry disposed of her immediately after my born. I’ve never met her and Henry doesn’t want to talk me about her, or my real mother. Nor that I’m interested. I can’t have them back, and I’ve never met them so I can’t miss them. You can’t miss someone or something you’ve never had. Don’t you think ?”

“I think that you’ve lost so much things before you even had the possibility to fight for them, and when you’ll realize it, you wouldn’t know how to get over it.”

“You said your family abandoned you, but then you met your father. You know both the sweet taste of a family and the bitter ones of the abandon. I’ve Henry, he will help me, eventually”

“Henry sold you to Cade to be saved, Dorian. He may cares about you but he cares about himself more”

Dorian simply shrugged and Eri started to feel quite irritated by his complete indifference. She’d just told him that Henry was simply using him and all he could do was shrug ? Like an idiot ?   
It wasn’t the reaction she wanted from him.   
She wanted him to tell her that he hated to be involved in the current situation. That he was holding a grudge toward Henry and Cade. That he didn’t want to become a Sinner Hunter. That he wanted to lean how to walk even thought other people denied him this right.  
Walk…  
Before she could think, she grabbed the book that Dorian was reading and threw it across the room.

“What are you do…”

Dorian couldn’t terminate his question that Eri kicked his wheelchair with all her strength and made him fell on the floor.  
She didn’t have intention of being so rude or to treat him so bad, but she was convinced she was doing the right thing.

“Are you seeing how Im treating you now ? Are you angry ?”

Dorian looked stunned and confused, even flustered. What did he do to her to be treated like that ?  
Did he say something rude ? Did he do something offensive ? Why was she behaving like that ?  
She hurt him !

“You hurt me !” he exclaimed.

“Did I ? You should have get used to this kind of manners. I’m not doing anything different from what Cade and Henry’ve been doing to you. Do you feel humiliated ? Are you angry with me ? You should be”

Dorian blinked his eyes. Was really the same thing ? He didn’t think so. Henry’d never laid a single finger on him, even when Dorian hesitated in doing what he ordered.  
But…  
Henry prevented him to do or go as he pleased and took everything away from him because he knew Dorian couldn’t stop him.  
As Eri did. She had to simply throw his book away and kicked his wheelchair to impede him to go and took it back by himself.   
Maybe he was finally beginning to understand what she was trying to say to him.  
Useless… Weak… Defenseless… Without a way to escape… Without a way to impose his will…

“Let me introduce myself better, Dorian…” said Eri “Junsuina tsumi, chūjitsuna fukujū, zentai, honō no samu-sa, watashi wa chichi no musumedesu, chesu-ban no joō, Watashi wa erabu, watashi wa hoshī, watashi wa toru to watashi wa ō no tame no gēmu ni katsudarou.”

“Sin in purity, obedience in fidelity, one the whole, coldness in the flames I’m my father’s daughter, the queen on his chessboard. I choose, I want, I take and I will win the game for the King…” translated Dorian “You don’t play for Cade, do you ? Do you think you’ll be the piece who will do checkmate to the Devil ? Are you crazy ?”

“Are you worried for me ?” asked Eri looking at him with her golden eyes.

Dorian remained wordless.  
Her golden eyes were the most beautiful things he’d ever seen in his life.   
They were so alive, so determinate, su full of feelings, wrath, anger, sadness, frustration, ambition…  
She was everything he’d never been.   
While he felt boredom and annoyance toward the most of things, and he was always too lazy to object anything to Henry. Everything was so insignificant to him, everything so grey, monotone, useless.   
He breathed because he needed, he ate because his body needed him to, he slept, read, write, play his flute because he needed to survive.  
He didn’t fight for anything and no one, simply because he had to. He lacked of motivations.   
He was content with the minimum, when he could have had the maximum, but he never complained.   
He had no wishes, or dreams, or ambitions.   
Eri instead… was a flame ready to burn down the entire world to get what she wanted.  
She knew that she aimed to and she knew how to pursue her goals. She wasn’t kind, her tongue and her manners were cunning like a sword.   
She had no pity for him, she probably wasn’t even sorry for having made him fallen on the ground.   
She wanted him to react, to stand up and made her pay for what she did to him.   
She believed that he could be something more than the idiotic puppet of the Sloth…  
For another time in his life, Dorian found himself envious of her…

“If I ever have a wife, I wouldn’t want a strong one like you. You scare me”

Eri smiled with tenderness “I wouldn’t want an husband who can’t stack off for his own ideas and who is devoid of opinions. Now, grab my hand and hold on to me. You’re going to take that damn book with your leg, step by step, day after day, until I decide you’re ready to walk on your own”

“You know I’m a sorcerer and that I can use my magic right ?”

“Don’t use shortcuts when they aren’t needed. Take my hand, I promise I won’t let you fall”

…

Ethan felt his throat was dry for how much he’d talked that day. He wasn’t used anymore to conversate so much after centuries of solitude. Furthermore, it hadn’t been easy to talk about his past.   
About Beatrice, the woman he wanted to marry, the woman who collaborated with him at the construction of the Bell, who assisted at his own downfall into a never-ending ocean of perdition and madness.

“I loved Beatrice, I planned to marry her and I didn’t care if she was a witch. Cade denied me the honor of becoming her husband. He ruined all our plans and converted the Bell into a dark tool. Fortunately, the Bell was only a warranty. The plan B in case the plan A would have failed”

“And in what consisted the plan A ?” asked Matt.

“Since the Founder’s Bell’d been turned into a way to release souls from Hell on Earth, the only way to kill him is a weapon made from his bones. The Bone Dagger, made from the death by the ash and bone of Cade and forged into glass by hellfire.”

“And where is it ?” asked Matt impatient.

Ethan didn’t answer to him and Matt was getting more and more impatient.   
Finally he knew that there was a weapon that could kill the Devil, finally there was thread of hope to hold on to, and he had no more time to lose.   
Ethan had to tell him the truth, because Matt was really desperate.   
Matt remained petrified if he only thought about the things Cade could do to his friends while he was there trapped in Hell, with his own Doppelgänger.  
Now Matt could understand Elena was she complained about how terrible and weird was looking at someone with your own face.   
Ethan looked so much alike to him. He wondered about the person the messy and flustered angry man used to be… Happy, carefree…  
Cade ruined so many lives and he deserved to pay for this.  
But Ethan looked so reluctant to answer him.   
Why ?

“Ethan… you have to tell me. Do you understand how much important this is ?”

“Of course I do. If there’s something I perfectly understand is the importance of the only one Bone Dagger, the only one weapon that can put an end on his Hell. The main reason why I’m here. Cade had no idea where the Bone Dagger is, but I do”

“I thought that Sybil was a psychic and that she could read your mind and…”

“Sybil is not invincible as she wants to believe. Bea put a powerful spell to protect my mind from Sybil and Cade. She did well but the cost was high, years and years of imprisonment. But I don’t regret it. Remember, don’t matter how high the cost can be, don’t hesitate to pay it if you can saved the people you love”

“My friends have been the reason of my misery ultimately”

“But you still care for them or you wouldn’t have been there, begging me for telling you where to find the Dagger”

Matt licked his lips, without answering.   
Matt wouldn’t have been a liar if he said he didn’t hold any grudges toward Elena, Caroline and Damon, specially him. The vampires ruined his life, they killed his mother, his sister, his fiancé. They turned his life into a living Hell and the more he fought the more they won over him.   
Why couldn’t they just disappear ?   
Why did someone create vampires ?

“My life had its own complications, nothing compares to yours, but I’ve lost a lot of people I loved too. I will lose more, if you don’t collaborate with me”

“I… the Bone Daggers is…”

“Where ?”

“Inside my tomb and key to open the coffer inside it is… inside me”

…

Elena was surprised that Mikaelsons accepted to easily to collaborate with her, too easily actually and she couldn’t prevent to be suspicious for this.  
History speaking, Mikaelson made allegiance only for their own profit and she wouldn’t be surprised if Klaus had that weird idea of wanting to become the new King of Hell by demoting Cade.   
Of course she didn’t confess to no one her doubts. Caroline had still a little infatuation for Klaus and she would defend him from her accusations. Bonnie was already too much frantic for what she’d seen to deal with her suspects too.  
They were waiting for the Originals to come in the Armory. She sent them the address, so that they would arrive there directly. Meanwhile, she hoped to find out more about Ethan Maxwell and Cade.   
Caroline was there with the twins. Since their kidnap, she didn’t want to lose them from her sight, but Elena doubted that the Armory was such a safe place for them.   
Everyone noticed that since the twin had begun to spend too much time in the Armory, their powers became unstable, difficult to control and Lizzie also accidentally hurt Caroline and Josie attempted to set her on fire for this.

“I’ve found nothing interesting” said Alaric dejected “In the journal, there’s only another name. Beatrice Bennet. She put the spell on the Bell and she’s a Bennet witch. Maybe Bonnie can invoke her” proposed him in the end.

“What do you think Bonnie ?” asked Elena to her friend who was sat next to Alaric.

“I think that it’s worth a try.” said Bonnie “Any try is worthy, since we know nothing about Cade. Beatrice Bennet had to know something to build the Bell and I don’t want to believe that she stopped there. I want to believe that her and Ethan had a second plan in case the first failed”

“We shouldn’t wait for Klaus and his family to arrive ?” asked Caroline.

“No. I still have my doubts about him. They accepted too easily and I don’t trust them” said Elena.

“Me neither” said Alaric.

“Guys, we asked them help because we want allies. If we begin this partnership with hiding informations or being suspicious it will be useless” said Caroline.

“Caroline, be objective, Mikaelson helped us before, it’s true, but only if they can take advantage of this and more than one they stabbed us in the back.” said Bonnie.

“Also, We’ve been stabbed in the back recently and that mistake costed us both Matt and Enzo. I’m not going to repeat the same mistake. Our guard will have to be kept up. Okay ?” asked Elena.

Caroline didn’t agree with Elena’s decision. She was acting more like Damon than herself.   
Damon was always suspicious about people, he preferred working alone and rarely he made moves telling other what he was trying to do or obtain.  
Damon always tried to keep some informations for himself, as an insurance for his life and for other’s loyalty.

“How is Damon ?” asked Caroline

“Still unconscious. I don’t know if or when he wakes up, but for the moment it’s better this way. He and Klaus were at the loggerheads last time They met.”

“That’s not a valid reason to want him unconscious” said Caroline.

“I take the candles, so that we can invoke Beatrice” said Bonnie before the other two girls could begin an argument.

They had no time to waste in futile arguments, specially because every second that passed could be last one to save Matt’s life.  
Bonnie lost Enzo that day, she didn’t want to lose Matt too.   
When everything was ready, she invoked the spirit of Beatrice Bennet, as she’d already done once.

“Ready ?” asked Bonnie, then the other nodded so she pronounced the spell “Phasmatos Manex, un Domo Haz, Fero Adiuvex”

“Are you sure it worked ?” asked Elena.

Bonnie knew it worked because she could feel that the spirit of her ancient enter inside her body.

“Beatrice ? Are you here ?” asked Caroline.

“Yes, I’m glad you invoked me. It’s time to stop the Devil. I’ve been waiting for this moment to come for too much time” said ‘Beatrice’.

“We need your help. We have almost lost hope” said Elena.

“Cade’s not always been the Devil. He used to be a man and he died as such. Not matter the extent of his powers, not matter if his hatred gave born to Hell, his body was human. A man can’t kill a God, but another man… yes. Cade’s not a Devil, he’s not a God. You have to defeat him using his own humanity against him”

“What do you mean ?”

“Only a Dagger made of his bones can kill him. The humanity against divinity. Mortality in immortality. The cold of the death in the flames of the life. Unfortunately, while I was still alive, I could only create two bone daggers. One of them was destroyed by Sybil. The other is in possessed of Ethan”

“Ethan ? Ethan Maxwell ?” asked Alaric “Isn’t he dead ?”

“No. He’s in Hell, Cade kidnapped him and imprisoned him there. You have to find a way to take Ethan out of Hell or to find him, only him could give you a way to have the Bone Dagger in your hands.”

Everyone in there didn’t know how to react.  
It was their usual luck. The only way to find a weapon that could kill the Devil, was imprisoned in Hell and no one of them had any idea of how to enter inside it. Actually, the only idea of going in Hell made all of them shivering.

“There’s a way to enter in Hell ? Or to bring Ethan away from there ?” asked Alaric

“You have an alley. Maybe you don’t know, but a lot of people want the devil death and curiously, most of them are the one who are nearest to him”

“So the King is not strong as he wants to look ah ?” asked Elena pleased.”

“At all. He’s alone and no one believes in his utopia”

“Utopia ?” asked Caroline.

“Cade’s planning something big. He has a plan to create a new world devoid of impurity and sins. To create this new world he intends to destroy this one by bringing his Hell on Earth. He has the utopia for this new world where all the bad people will suffer the worst sentences. Where the good people will have to fight to prove they’re worthy of forgiveness and enter in Heaven”

“He’s completely insane” commented Elena.

“Maybe he’s tired of playing the Devil, now he wants to play the God” said Caroline.

“How did he plan to build this new world ?” asked Alaric.

“With Pride, and Lust, Greedy, Gluttony, Sloth, Envy and Wrath”

“Why are you itemizing the seven deadly sins ?” asked Alaric.

“Because all the others sins derive from the them. The first seven seeds that started a kingdom of sin and perdition. The hellish seeds. When Cade created his Hell, it’d been enough using only one sin, the Pride. Try to imagine what kind of world he would create if he manage to obtain all the other sins ?”

The other remained silent.  
Suddenly the ignorance was a bliss they regretted.   
So that was the great plan of Cade ? His insane utopia ? His hellish scheme ?   
Creating a world made of cruelty to punish the entire world ?   
Who did he think he was ?   
Cade thought to be a God but he was nothing but a crazy psychotic. A psychotic strong and powerful enough to create an Hell only by his pride and desperation.

“Not a world, an Hell.” said Elena.

“Where did he get the sins ?” asked Alaric.

“Who is the worst sinner after the Devil ?”

“The man” answered Caroline.

“He doesn’t intend to rule alone. He’ve spending all this time building his unholy family to rule the new world with and…”

Suddenly everything began to tremble and free drops of blood began to run from Bonnie’s nose.  
It was clear that someone was trying to interrupt their conversation, to bring Beatrice back to the other side.

“I’ve not much time… Wha… Gluttony… will… help you… Fire…”

Beatrice tried to say more but then Bonnie’s body fell on the ground, senseless. The other ran toward her, called her, trying to see if she was okay, if she was still breathing.   
They were all worried about her and about what they’d just found out.   
For the moment they should take care of Bonnie. Then they would try to organize their ideas and planning something to understand what Beatrice meant with “Gluttony” and “Fire”, so that they could also elaborate a plan to take Ethan out of Hell.

…

Cade felt it. Someone’d invoked Beatrice’s spirit from the other side and he could guess why.   
Beatrice was the only one person who managed to escape Hell, since Cade failed to drag her in Hell as he did with Ethan. Beatrice’d been a thorn in his side in her life and she continued to be even now she was dead.  
What was worst, was that he couldn’t even know what she revealed before he managed to break the spell who bring her on heart.   
He needed to send someone back in Mystic Falls, to spy on that group of losers so that he could knew what they knew and what they were planning to do.  
Even the weakest of your enemy, if motivated, could reveal to be your downfall.   
Who send there ?   
He looked at the burned and disgusting soul of Katherine Pierce and he wondered how long he should wait for her to heal.   
His magic was working, with the help of four of his kitsune, who even now were absorbing Katherine’s pain to accelerate the healing process, but apparently the entire process needed more time than he’d predicted, and that was bad.   
Until Katherine wouldn’t be healed, Cade couldn’t use her for his spell, which meant that that bunch of human burdens would may find a way to defeat him.   
No…  
It was time to put order in his kingdom. Did the other think he was a fool ?  
Didn’t they know that he knew their intentions even before they formulated them ?   
Maybe killing one of them and put a sleeping spell to another wasn’t enough. Maybe more direct and hard measures were required. Fine. He was never against drastic measures,

“I will send the destruction right in Mystic Falls, it will be the first town to burn in my Hell. The first garrison of my future empire !” he shouted.

“My my, my love…” said a female voice behind him “You look pretty upset, don’t you ? Does your pout have something to do with the fact that Beatrice told to that bunch of pathetic humans about your Bone Dagger ?”

“My love…” he said turning toward Sybil “Why, instead of wasting my time, don’t you simply say what do you want ?”

“Differently from you, whose pedestal is too high to see what happens down below, I know what Beatrice could say to them. Don’t forget that you stole the man she loved away from her” said Sybil “And now you’re wasting time trying to cure that fossile of a soul. She’s not appropriate to be part of our family. Katherine Pierce has a very unreliable reputation”

“Don’t be jealous my dear. I know that. But I’m tired of waiting and I need Katherine’s Envy for my spell. Then she could always remain in her current state. I couldn’t care less.”

“Comatose… it would be an insurance. My spies back in New Orleans, warned me that Mikaelsons are going to Mystic Falls. What should we do about it ?” asked Sybil touching Cade’s shoulders.

Cade was growling. So Klaus didn’t give up. That stubborn hybrid was determinate to take Stefan away from him. Cade’ve spent almost a century waiting for Stefan to give his soul and body to him and the knowledge that Klaus’d already taken what it was due to him, was enough to make him lose rationality.   
He won’t allow Klaus to have what belonged to Devil himself.  
He would make sure for Klaus who Stefan belonged to.  
He would drive Klaus made for jealously.   
If love could make a man fool, the jealously made him mad.  
No one could take away his gluttony. No one.  
It was him the one who could offer to Stefan a reign of passion and power, after all. Stefan may be naive but he knew… he knew how wise would be chose him, Arcadius, the Emperor of Hell, over a Fallen King.  
Stefan was baring the curse of an hunger of blood and power that only Cade could satisfy, not even Klaus’ love or body.   
Love was the best weapon of the Devil and jealously the cruelest.   
Suddenly he knew what he had to do.

“You know… To be part of a new family, is necessary sever the link with the previous one. It’s time for Stefan to finally get rid of Damon, as it’s time for Henry and Dorian to get rid of the Mikaelson.”

“What ?”

“Let’s Damon see what his precious baby brother’s become. Let’s Klaus see the excellent creature Henry became… Let’s Freya see what her little boy serves me.”

How will Klaus react when he will know that his little brother used to be the Devil’s whore ?

  
“You want to put a show for them, ah ?” asked Sybil almost worried, for Henry.

She knew the toddler had no intention of encountering his family, because he couldn’t accept the fact that they’d forgotten him.   
Cade wanted only to punish Stefan, why did Henry have to be involved ? Why couldn’t Cade let that boy be ?  
She was tempted of confessing her disapproval but she was walking on thin ice as well as Henry, since her last attempt of betrayal.   
She knew that Cade wouldn’t let her live at hornet wrong move, and that he would kill as soon as the Seven Deadly Sins curse was completed.   
The Devil was furious and ready to reduce even her body and soul in nothing more than burned flash as Katherine.  
Her vanity didn’t allow her to do nothin more than nod.

“Put a good charade. I’m in mood for good laughs” she simply said.

“Oh… you will appreciate it. I swear, but not from there”

“What are you implying ?”

“We’re going to repeat the same scheme we’d used before in Mystic Falls. Stefan, Dorian and Henry will go to Mystic Falls. You intend will go to New Orleans and will finish Stefan’s uncompleted job. You’re going to purify New Orleans from the sin. Humans, vampires, men, women… Kill the all and take someone with you.”

“As you wish, love” said Sybil before going away.

’That’s a real declaration of war’, she thought.   
Well, things always got more interesting when you found good competitors. Until now, no one had been bold or brave enough for even contemplating the idea of defeating him.   
But Klaus Mikaelson, was another pair of hands.   
Klaus Mikaelson what the soul to save of Devil’s gluttony, a constant, little but permanent crack in an otherwise perfect mosaic.   
And so everyone who could prevent Henry and Dorian in their path for salvation.

…

Henry was in a bad mood. His conversation with Stefan didn’t end well and that broke his heart.   
Stefan was furious with him, not because Henry had never talked to him about Dorian.  
Stefan, as Henry, understood the importance of having some secrets, sometimes it was the key to survive in Hell. Not letting other know too much about yourself or the people around you.   
It was a secret rule, a tacit agreement of anyone who dared to work with the Devil.  
No, Stefan was disappointed him because he permitted Cade to involve Dorian in this hellish chaos of lied, betrayals and bad decisions.  
Henry tried to explain Stefan that everything started with good intentions (Actually not, and Stefan understood it as well), that he simply gave Dorian the opportunity to live, the same opportunity that that dumb of his mother almost took away from him for good.   
Why couldn’t Stefan understand the immense gift he did to Dorian ?   
He allowed him to live, for a purpose.   
Some men spent their own lives following no purpose or goals, they simply stole days from God. Other wasted their living for useless and pointless aim.   
Dorian’s life was important in great picture, it had a purpose, a target, a sense.  
Dorian would be one of the most powerful soccer of the world, no one, vampires, witches or hybrids would be able to compete against to him.   
Freya wouldn’t have been a good mother, if she really loved her son she would have found another way to save him, instead of killing him. She would have found a way to have her precious back instead of playing at the little perfect family with her siblings.  
A good mother wouldn’t have surrounded. A good mother would have kept fighting.  
Freya was not a good mother, as Esther. They shouldn’t have had children, they weren’t worthy of this gift. Neither was him, but he was a son and sometimes sons had to collaborate against their common enemies, even if they were their parents.   
Parents couldn’t do whatever they wanted with their children only because they were the reason for their existence.   
Children didn’t belong to parents and family weren’t made by blood. But by fate.   
A voice behind him interrupted his stream of thoughts.

“Lord Henry… You have a mission” 


	42. Material Gods

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "... You know, not all greedy people prefers material things over relationships because they want to look powerful. Sometime, they’re simply greedy of love but they’re scared to death to be disappointed or to disappoint the others. Material things have no soul, have no mind, have no heart, have no will. They always remain the same and do what you want them to do. They don’t grow old, they remain beautiful as the first day and if you play your cards well no one will ever take them away from you. Money, jewels, clothes… they can’t hurt you”

**CHAPTER**

THE NEXT DAY… Mystic Falls…

It was strange coming back there, where everything began. There it was where he was born, where he saw his younger siblings born. Where he fell in love for the first time. Where he died. Where he learnt the truth about his nature. Where he ceased to be Niklaus. Where he became Klaus Mikaelson.  
So many things happened there…  
There he finally broke the curse who prevented him to be fully himself.  
His mother only cursed him to hide her affair, to make him weak.  
Klaus closed his eyes and took a deep breath.  
There he began the immortal dance, the never-ending waltzer between Klaus and Niklaus, the man and the hybrid, the light and the darkness. the angel and the demon. The passionate artist of Vikings and the power hungry King of Vampires.

“…I imagined it different… what do you think Klaus ?” asked Rebekah looking at the Armory.

“I imagined nothing. They told us they were still here. Apparently this Armory became their new secret base.” said Klaus with sarcasm.

“I hope they found out something useful and that they can say more about Stefan’s twin. I knew he was one of Silas’ doppelgänger but as far as I believed…” was saying Kol.

“Is Stefan a doppelgänger ? When did you think to tell me ?” asked Klaus.

“It’s wasn’t my secret to tell, even thought I don’t think he was aware of it. I used to believe that existed only doppelgängers Petrova. Apparently not. Did you know that the dead husband of Tatia was another doppelgänger ? If he’d lived longer we would have met another older version of your male lover”

Klaus vehemently ignored his allusion.  
The last thing he wanted to do was thinking about Stefan or an ancient version of him with Tatia. It could only make him throw up.  
The only idea of Stefan with someone else made him to want to throw up.  
They entered in the Armory, looking around, trying to see if there was someone else or some monsters hidden somewhere. It was the first time that Freya personally encountered their “pals” in Mystic Falls and she didn’t now what to expect. If they managed to defeat Klaus, it meant that they were smart and capable, at least she hoped.  
Rebekah would have lied if she said that she wasn’t a little bit excited of meeting Matt after so long.  
Elijah instead regretted the decision of following Klaus in this madness, since he was worried to death for Hayley and Hope. He was convinced that someone should have remained in Mystic Falls to watch over them.  
The other were waiting for them in the library of the Armory. All of them, for the only expect of Damon who was under a sleeping spell and was on one of the room of the Armory.  
Part of Klaus was glad not to have put it up with that troublemaker, another part was displeased since he’ve been wanting to punch Damon hard since he’d found out that Stefan was his brother.  
Maybe it was really a good thing or Klaus’ wrath would keep to get in the way and that wasn’t the moment.  
When they arrived in the library, they all could here that there was a conversation going on…

“She said ‘Gluttony’ and ‘Fire’ would help you, which meant that there’s a double crosser next to Cade, this is already an advantage” was saying Alaric.

“Not if we don’t understand how to profit by it. We know that for ‘Gluttony’ she meant someone, a person. But Fire ? Hell is practically made of Fire.” was saying Caroline.

Caroline… only now Klaus realized how much he’d missed her.  
She was even more beautiful than he’d remembered, probably the maternity made her more stunning than before. Klaus regretted not to have payed a visited to her before, in better circumstances.  
Next to her there was Alaric, whose face was almost completely hidden by an high pile of books, with messy hair, a black eye.  
Next to him there was Elena, who was writing something on a block note while she was also reading other books.  
Seen from afar, they looked more like a study group than three people who were collaborating to fight the Devil.  
Klaus was also pretty surprised to notice that there were only them. Nor the witch or the blond human were there.  
Apparently that situation there was worse than he’d anticipated.

“It seems we’ve arrived at the right moment, as always” he exclaimed getting closer to them, followed by his siblings.

Elena, Alaric and Caroline jumped.  
They were so focused on what they were doing that they didn’t even notice the Mikaelsons. They’d been reckless because they could have been Sybil with her minions. She could have caught them unprepared again.

“Finally” muttered Caroline “I’m glad you accepted to help us”

“Of course you are, unfortunately if you think that my brother’s here to start his courtship to you again, you’re total…”

Klaus grabbed Freya by her arm and then he introduced her “She’s our new sister, Freya Mikaelson. How we found her it’s a long story and we don’t have time”

Freya gave a slight wave of greeting, looking at Klaus to make him aware that she perfectly understood the reason behind that gesture, that was interrupting Rebekah before she could say something embarrassing.

“Why are you only there ? Where are the witch and the blond idiot ?” asked Kol.

“Bonnie’s resting. She had a bad day yesterday. Matt’s been kidnapped instead” answered Elena narrowing her eyes.

“Kidnapped ?” asked Rebekah coming closer to the girl “By who ?”

“The Devil’s wife, Sybil” answered Alaric.

“Does the Devil now have a wife too ?” asked Elijah quite skeptical.

Caroline rolled her eyes then she said “We should sit down. There’s a lot to talk about.”

…

_“A kiss on the hand maybe quite continental… but diamond are a girl’s best friend… A kiss may be grand, but it won’t pay the rental on your humble flat or help you at the automat “.”_

Henry, Stefan and Dorian were together in a car, driving on a desert street, with the melody of ‘Material girl’ in the background. Actually they were following Mikaelsons’ ones keeping a safe distance. Not that they could risk of loosing them.  
The sins committed by that family over the years was their path from yellow bricks.  
Stefan was the one behind the wheel, since Henry’d never taken the license and Dorian was too young and couldn’t even walk.  
The brunet was actually pretty worried for the two Knights guys. He expected more resistance from Henry, instead the brunet sorcerer simply accepted the last Cade’s cruelty without even a blink. Probably Henry’s position was even more frail than Stefan’d expected.  
Well he was certain that Henry wasn’t dying for joy at the idea of meeting his family again, since he was firm on his conviction that he no longer belonged to that family nor that he wanted to come back at being a Mikaelson.  
Henry was determinate to hold his grudge toward him family until the Hellfire destroyed his soul, not matter how many times Stefan repeated him that only because his mother sold him, it didn’t mean that they siblings stopped to love him.  
Henry wanted revenge, that was why he’ve been keeping Esther imprisoned in Hell, since her last death in New Orleans.  
Henry thought Stefan wasn’t aware of it, but as aforementioned, Hell wasn’t a place where it was easy keeping secrets.  
Stefan at least hoped that Henry would have done something to spare Dorian the trauma of meeting his biological mother in such unpleasant circumstances. Apparently he underestimated Henry’s indifference, again. Your own survival before any other’s else.  
Stefan looked at Dorian thought the rearview mirror and he turned toward Henry.

“Does he know that he’s been sent to kill his biological mother ?” he asked.

Henry looked at Dorian then at him and simply shrugged “He’s not going to suffer if no one tells him”

“You will” simply said Stefan.

“What ?” asked Henry with a smirk “Do you think I’m planning something ?”

“Oh I do know you’re planning something entertaining cruel. You’re a Diva, Henry, as your siblings. You want an audience, you want attention, you like doing things bigger and bigger and you’re a drama queen.”

“Exactly, you know me so well after all. What you don’t know is that Armory is too late for a stage to my standards”

“What do you mean ?” asked Stefan.

“I mean that my mother sold me to Devil only because she hoped that I would kill my siblings, in case they failed to control their vampire nature. So I killed sinners, humans people only to have my revenge on her. But I realized something.”

“What ?”

“That my former is an obstacle. Destroying my mother is no longer enough. Seeing as the hellish beasts and monsters ripped her soul apart, is not enough. I want to destroy any trace of her, anything of my past. I want to destroy Henrik. And you have to kill Damon”

Henry knew, deep inside, that in the exactly moment he would encountered his siblings again something in me would inevitably turn on again. A part of him that he forced to suppress under straws of anger and hatred.  
Henrik in Henry, the child in the adult, the human in the Sinner Hunter. The light in darkness.  
What was going to happen to him when he would meet his siblings ?  
Henry was gambling, as he’d never done before.  
Before he knew that he could chose to act or not to act. To pursue his goals, to abandon them. To take a decision, to step back from that.  
Not matter what he chose, he knew how to remedy at any consequences.  
But now ? Humans feelings were the definition of ‘unpredictable’, unbowed, they didn’t ask permission to poison your heart, they just took it and they drove people mad, not matter how brilliant of fools they were.  
When someoìne chose to give his heart to someone else, it was always a gamble. One move, multiples outcomes. That was why he had to kill the rest of his families. He had to prove to himself that all the ties with the past were finally eliminated.  
And so had to do Stefan. It was in his best interest.

“I don’t think…”

“We have to play better than anyone else… Stefan… better than Devil himself and sometime we have tour crueler than him.”

“I gave up my soul for him. If I kill him, all of this would have be in vain”

“Or maybe, it’s only your final lesson. Sometimes to find light you have to pass through the entire tunnel, touching with you bare hands the worst in you, accept it and try to use it to get what you want. Do you want a family ? Do you want Eri to be happy ?”

“Don’t ask questions you’ve already known the answers of”

“Then you have to chose, Damon or Eri. The past or the future.”

“And what about Dorian ? He has no past, no future, no present. You want him to kill his mother without even having the possibility of…”

“If it’s matricide what scandalizes you so much, than I can always kill Freya at his place. And don’t you dare to forget Cade. We’re on a mission”

“As I could ever forget. Sometimes I wish material things would satisfy me like they do with you”

“Yes, greedy is my damnation and salvation. You know, not all greedy people prefers material things over relationships because they want to look powerful. Sometime, they’re simply greedy of love but they’re scared to death to be disappointed or to disappoint the others. Material things have no soul, have no mind, have no heart, have no will. They always remain the same and do what you want them to do. They don’t grow old, they remain beautiful as the first day and if you play your cards well no one will ever take them away from you. Money, jewels, clothes… they can’t hurt you”

Henry would’ve lied if he said that he didn’t have an obsession over expensive trivial beautiful things, money, clothes, jewels, cellphones, watches…  
Even things he didn’t need or that he didn’t know how to use, he simply had to possess them.  
He couldn’t have pretty things when he was human, so now he expected to have all the gold and silver of the Earth.  
He couldn’t have brand clothes, so now he wore only suits and ties.  
He couldn’t have a mother, so he fucked the Devil’s wife.  
He couldn’t have a father, so he fucked the Devil himself.

“Are you talking about things or about Dorian now ?” asked Stefan.

“I couldn’t have children, so I took my sister’s one. A first-born Mikaelson child. The best of the best.”

“Why everyone are allowed to follow their pleasure while I’m still denied mine ?” wondered Stefan.

“Because you have to given up on your light yet. You don’t love Cade and you’re not devoted to him. He still wait for you to fall, to brake down. Then… then when you’ll I’ve him everything he wants from you, he will allowed you the sweet taste of human blood. Become a real God”

“A god ? Do you have a God complex like Cade ?”

“It’s simply a matter of fact. I died, I came back from the death and reborn in Hellfire. I can kill someone only wishing for it. I can kill someone only using my astral projection. I’m able to see the future of the other people, what they’re going to do, to think, to chose, how they will die by my hands. I can die over and over again and come back alive like a phoenix. We’re God Stefan and everyone should kneel before us”

“We’re not God only because we choose who lives and who dies. How to kill or how to spare someone. We die, we can get hurt, we have weaknesses and someday we’re going to fall”

“Not today, Stefan. Not today”

_‘Men grow cold as girls grow old, and we all love our charms in the end… But square cut our pear shape, these rocks don’t lose their shape… Diamonds are girl’s best friend !’_

“Hear Stefan ? We’re like diamonds. Forever beautiful, forever young and no all people can afford us. Not even the Devil, not even our families”

Dorian, who had remained silent for all the journey, looking outside the car window, enjoying the sightseeing out there. Looking at the sun in particular.  
It was so beautiful, so bright, and its light seemed so warm on his face. Hellfire couldn’t compete with such beauty.  
While the Hellfire portrayed the sublime, an overpowering and vast malignant object of great magnitude, that could destroyed the observer itself.  
The sun instead was beautiful, pleasure to admire, like an eternal warm caretaker that always kept you company.  
Dorian felt that… he actually liked it.  
As he liked Eri’s ginger hair.  
Even though he was so used not to have an opinion toward the entire world, he was finally realizing that it was so hard suppressed his appreciation toward the sun and the fact that he didn’t like Henry’s words about families, powers, and things.  
And thinking that Dorian was willing to be a living diamond doll, emotionless. Why, if he was so important in the great order of things, did he feel so insignificant ?  
Henry, who wasted all his best cards and who had sold his life to Devil, was the only person whose Dorian truly cared about.  
Not matter if the older boy wanted him only to obey, Dorian was fine as far as Henry would remain at his side.  
Dorian was willing not to feel, not to speak, to be nothing more than a decorative pet, broken even before his born.  
Now he was going to kill the mother he’d never meet, that mother he’d never had the possibility to love and that he didn’t hate anyway. He was going to cut the ties with a past he’d never lived.  
Was it right ? Was it wrong ?  
Thinking looked to be so easy to do for people around him, why it was so hard for him ?  
He looked at his legs, and he despised them.  
Too thin for a boy of his age, useless, because they couldn’t do the only think they were created for,  
Pathetic… weak… depended on that hideous wheelchair…incapacitated of doing even the simplest task without help… unable to elaborate even the simplest of the thought…  
Suddenly a new feeling he wasn’t accustomed was growing inside him and he wasn’t sure it was something positive.

…

_“There may come a time when a lass needs a lawyer, but diamonds are a girl’s best friend…”_

Sybil was singing that song through the street of New Orleans, more specifically in the French Quarter. It was where she choose to begin her deadly lullaby.  
Her voice was her strongest weapon after her beauty.  
Her, the demon of lust, the Queen of the Hellish chessboard and wife of Devil.  
For the moment she was simply absorbing the sins of people around her. She hadn’t hunted for long and she needed energy, so that her song would be strong enough to set the entire city on fire that night.  
Liar, thieves, rapist, murderers, the city of sins was going to be purified that night in the name of her husband.  
Only now Sybil realized how much she’d missed her powers, she missed to be able to chose who deserved to live or die.  
She missed to be the strongest woman of the world.  
Not just one of the queens, but The Queen.

_“There may come a time when a hard boiled employer thinks you’re awful nice, but that ice or else no dice !”_

The scum of the scum was going to be erased, not that she truly cared for Cade’s utopia.  
She simply wanted hearing people screaming and suffer, whether they were innocents or not, they were all going to die.  
That was the main difference between her and Cade.  
Cade wanted a new world, he wanted to create an utopia where the good people would live in piece, happy, free from the ignorance and the banality of cruelty.  
Sybil just wanted to see that fucking world burn down. She wanted the Earth to burn under the Hellfire for almost three millennium as she did.  
Humans banished her into a desert island where all her problems started. If it wasn’t for her parents, she’d never met Seline, she’d never become a Siren, she’d never met Cade and she would have been happy.  
She winked to a group of young men who were looking at her with lust and passion in their eyes.  
She also smiled to them and made them blush and looked away because they couldn’t hold her gaze.  
The sublime… she was the sublime… so beauty, so majestically impressive in her posture, in the curves of her body, that no one could look at there without risk to die or to fall in love with her.  
She was wearing a nice light blue dress that highlight her suntanned skin and the high heels also made her look taller. Most of the people, specially women, were surely envying her the diamonds necklace and earrings she was wearing with such airiness, as the diamonds were made to be wore by her.

_“It’s then that those louses go back to their supposes… Diamonds are a girl’s best friend !”_

She entered inside a sort of… pub ? If that hovel could be called like that, but she could feel that there was a great source of magic inside it.  
It was enough a blink, to notice that there were various supernatural creatures inside there and that there was something that was blocking her magic, or at least part of it. Her ring still worked and it was absorbing the magic from it.  
She sat on a table and waited.  
The magic on that slum was strong but her powers were stronger. Few minutes in there and she would know everting she needed to conquer New Orleans in just one night.

…

“… That’s the end of the story. Any question ?” asked Elena.

For a moment no one dared to speak, too busy to reorganize all the informations inside their head to express an opinion or a doubt.  
If Mikaelson hadn’t had their dose of troubles due to this Cade character, they would have been skeptical.  
So, to summarize everything, Cade had a wife who was there in Mystic Falls, who kidnapped Damon and Enzo in order to blackmail the other to find a magic Bell that was needed by Devil to accomplish his plan.  
That bunch of idiots tried to save their friends but they simply underestimated the power of the enemies.  
Now, not only they lost both Enzo and Matt, but Sybil succeeded to steal the Bell, now the Devil could easily win the game and that was unacceptable for Klaus.

“Yes, why haven’t you called us sooner instead of waiting thing to get worse ?” asked Klaus even before he could think.

“Because we thought we could handle it. We simply underestimated the situation and the new villain” answered Caroline.

“”Which shouldn’t be a surprise after all !! I bet you also omitted details. Even now that you all are with one foot in your grave, you still hope not to need our help !” said Klaus.

“You could have told us something too !! Kol knew that there was something wrong in there and that I was searching for Damon’s brother. He could have done something !” replayed Elena

“Actually, you didn’t believe me when I told you to have met Damon’s brother. If you’re dumb enough not to realize that your boyfriend is a liar, I’m certainly not the one to blame !” replayed Kol.

“Well, fighting over this would only result in a waste of time” said Elijah calmly “The chances to defeat this… Devil, are very few, since he’s a living ghost and practically he cannot die and so all the people who work for him. Kitsune and Sinner Hunters, as Stefan and this Sybil. They can’t be killed but Cade can revival them. It’s a never-ending circle”

Elijah was right.  
They could kill Sybil and the hunters over and over again but if they didn’t kill the Devil first, they would only waste their time.  
Caroline elbowed Elena and the brunet almost killed her with her gaze.  
She perfectly knew what the blond was trying to say to her with that gesture, but she simply couldn’t trust of them.  
There was something, in Klaus’ attitude that didn’t convince her. Klaus looked pissed, not that she remembered any different, but now he looked particularly pissed, as if there were different reasons for him to be there and no one of them contemplated Caroline’s maternity, or Elena’s blood or anything like that.

“What are the real reasons why are you all here ?” she asked feeing particularly brave and invading.

“Easy. You begged us to help all of you” answered Rebekah narrowing her eyes.

“Since when have you become so charitable ?” asked Alaric skeptical crossing his arms.

“Okay, why do I feel that now we are under interrogatory ?” asked Freya.

“She doesn’t mean that we believe you’re involved in this story. But you have to understand that we trusted this ‘Stefan’. He helped us to capture Sybil and told us a lot of things about Sinner Hunters. If we have Maxwell’s journal is because of him…” she took a breath then she continued “…What I’m trying to say is that we don’t want to trust to no one else without… guarantees”

“Fine, we’re here because Klaus wants to find his disappeared lover, who’s Stefan and we followed him because our mother said that aforementioned Salvatore is the key to find Henrik, our not so dead brother. Any other questions ?” asked Rebekah who had enough of that pathetic charade.

Klaus looked at her like he was ready to kill and rip her apart. How did she dare to talk about Stefan like that ? It wasn’t other’s business who he choose to fuck and surely nor him or his siblings owned any sort of explanations.  
He didn’t have the courage of looking Caroline in face, now thanks to that stupid and now he found himself in one of those embarrassing scene he hated with al his heart.  
Caroline, indeed, was stunned and so were Elena and Alaric, while the other Mikealsons were trying not to laugh and made the entire situation even worse.  
Alaric was going to say something, more to put an end on that embarrassing and suffocating silent when suddenly they all heard a big explosion that destroyed the glass of all the windows in there.

“What the hell ?” exclaimed Kol.

“Hell… I came from there…” said a voice near and far from them at the same time.

“Who is this ?” said Elijah.

“Oh… how could you forget ? Well, I guess it’s been a long time.”

“Who are you ? Do you work for Sybil ? Haven’t you had enough with this stupid charades ?” asked Elena angry.

“Oh we don’t. Cade doesn’t. He’s a Devil who’s going to become a God and so am I. But to become a God, I need to destroy all things that could still make me feel human…”

Now it was possible for all of them hearing some steps, and then a black shape appeared in front of their eyes.  
Firstly, it was something misshapen, black, difficult to definite. Then at each step, that misshapen creature began to look more and more human, until it was possible distinguish the shape of a young man, all dressed up in black, although they had to wait to all the black fog to disappear before to see his face better.  
The man, or the boy, looked really young, with dark hair and eyes that contrasted with his pale skin.  
At each step he made, something inside the room broke down or fell on the ground, the silver necklace he was wearing became brighter and his smirk more sinister.

“It’s a pleasure meet you all, finally” he said kneeling “Innocent in Sinner, truth in the lie, heaven in paradise, human in God, greedy in power, black in white, law in violence. I’m Henry Knight, the horse of the hellish chessboard.”

…

Stefan was pushing Dorian’s wheelchair in another area of the Armory, where he could feel Damon’s presence. He was taking Dorian there because he wanted the boy to wake Damon up and he knew he could do it because the sleeping spell that was currently making his older brother sleep wasn’t a common spell. It was an sluggish sleep spell that only Dorian, the hunter os sloth, could brake.  
Dorian looked well, himself, he hadn’t pronounced a word since he got out of the car, he was emotionless and his fingers were relaxed your the flute, as he was barely touching it.  
A child of his age shouldn’t look so calm, not when he was on the way of killing his own mother. Now when he was giving up on something he had all the rights to fight for.

“Dorian, you can come back if you want, you don’t have to do this” he said.

“It’s nor that I want, but I have to. I don’t feel like what I’m going to do is right or wrong, because I don’t have an opinion over the matter. I’ve never been told that killing is right or wrong. I simply know that I can and must kill people for Cade.”

“Dorian, don’t consider yourself less than a child. What they did to you is wrong”

“Yes, Eri said the same things. She’s been very… illuminating. She kicked me off my wheelchair after throwing the book I was reading across the room”

“She what ?” exclaimed Stefan stunned and mortified.

“Please, don’t reprove her. No one’s ever treated me like that and somehow it surprised me. I felt something, for the first time. Determination, maybe, to prove her that she was wrong”

Dorian couldn’t figure it out why it was so important for him that Stefan wouldn’t reprove Eri.  
Maybe because, thank to the ginger kitsune, he finally had the possibility to know how it felt like standing up on his legs, walking on his feet, even thought he constantly needed Eri to keep his balance. He was taller and heavier than her, but she didn’t lose her grip even once.  
She had been there to support him, until the end. Until he couldn’t take the book.  
He really appreciated her gesture, even though it hurt his shoulder.

“She was wrong regardless, she shouldn’t have kicked you like that.”

Dorian didn’t answer him back but Stefan could notice that his posture stiffened, the grip of his fingers became firmer, almost as if he wanted to brake the flute he had in his hands.  
The truth was that Dorian didn’t know what he wanted.  
He wanted to meet his mother, see how she looked like, if she was blond like him, if she had his green eyes, if she still remembered him, that she was going to have a son and then…  
Dorian had to see her, he deserved it, destiny at list owned him that.  
He wanted it !!

“I want to see my mother” he simply said.

“And you’ll meet her, I promise. But first, you have to do something for me. There’s someone you have to wake up. After that, I will accompany you to your mother” he said.

Doria didn’t have a clear opinion on Stefan, actually he had no opinions about anyone, a part from Eri, whose he found pretty and scaring.  
But something inside him convinced him that he could trust Stefan’s words, that he was a guy whom he could trust.  
He would help him to find his mother.  
It was his first wish. He wanted his mother to meet him before he had the chance of killing someone or to become a murder.  
He wanted his mother to like him.  
Stefan was glad to find out that Armory had more than one entry, specially one that conducted directly in the area where he knew, they were keeping Damon.  
In fact he found his older brother lay on a bed.  
He stopped, for a moment, frozen, inclined of going away one and for all.

“Is there any problem ? Are you afraid to meet your brother ?”

“No, it’s just that…”

He didn’t want to come closer to Damon after so long.  
How many years had passed ? How would Damon react ? Did he remember about him ?  
Almost instinctively he came closer to Damon, opening the door and touching the surface of the bed with his fingers.  
Damon was perfectly as he remembered him. Raven hair, chiseled jaw, expression perpetually sulky, even when he was sleeping.

“I’m sorry” he said not daring touching, not even taking his hands.

Only looking at him was painful for Stefan. The hunter didn’t even had the strength of getting angry, not yet at least.  
He wanted savored a little taste of familiarity and warm before to start another fight.  
Stefan was realizing how much he’d missed his brother, his much he still hoped Damon to save him and protect him but that was no longer possible.  
Stefan was there to kill him, once and for all, he was there to send right in Hell the most important man of his life, the man Stefan’d sold his soul for.  
Remember his love for Stefan wasn’t the best things to do, it was better concentrate himself on all those millions reasons that pushed him to kill Damon.

“Time’s up, brother.” he said “Dorian…”

Stefan slowly pushed Dorian’s wheelchair next to Damon, then the little boy put an hand on Damon’s forehead and he pronounced the spell.

“Watashi wa me o samasu yō ni shiji suru. Kawaisōnahito no nemuri wa, anata ni tengoku no tobira, yume no sekai no mon, shikashi jigoku no mon o hiraku koto wa arimasen. Me o samashimasu” (I order you to wake up. The sleep of slothful will not open you the doors of paradise, nor the gates of the dream world, but those of Hell. Wake up).

As soon as Dorian retried his little hand Damon opened his eyes and tried to sit on the bed but he was too weak.

“Where am I ?” he asked looking around quite frantic.

“In Hell.” Stefan answered breaking his neck.

Dorian gasped “If you wanted to talk with him, that’s not the best tactic”

Nor that he was an expert, but he definitively didn’t find Stefan snapping Damon’s head a pleasant scenario.  
He wondered for a moment how many people Stefan’d killed in his life ?  
How many people did he have to kill to erase the sense of guilty ?  
Is he’d ever had the courage of revealing his true nature in front of Eri… Dorian hoped Stefan hadn’t.

“He’s going to be fine. Now I’ve the time to accompany you to your mother, before he wakes up. Then… Then I will have my own family reunion”

Dorian nodded, at least Stefan remembered his promise and he was going to accomplish.  
There… another emotion… in his empty heart… gratitude.

…

Matt could no longer put it up with the current situation. He had to find a way to get out of there and so Ethan.  
The situation was already insufferable when he didn’t know that it actually existed a weapon that could defeat Cade, but now that he knew about its existence and that he couldn’t take it out of Hell or use it to kill the Devil made everything more frustrating.

“There has to be a way to get out of here…”

“There’s no way I haven’t tried at least once” said Ethan “But it’s impossible for humans getting out of Hell. Only Hunters or kitsune have the possibility to create portals between Hell and the living world. Even if you succeed to escape from this cage, you won’t last long out there”

“You have no idea of all the monsters I killed in my life”

“I don’t have to. The monsters you killed could be defeated. Those monsters out there won’t cease to exist until Cade decides to. It’s the same with the hunters, you can kill them over and over again and they would come back alive every time.”

“I’m already in Hell, nothing worse can’t happen to me at this point”

“You are an idiot. If you die all our possibility of salvation will follow you in the grave and you won’t be able to save your friend. Don’t be the martyr of a loss cause.”

Matt growled. He was tired of being told what he had or should do. He knew that Ethan was right, but he couldn’t accept to be in trap.  
Ethan talked about an ‘him’ that was supposed to help them, but now Matt was beginning to think that he was simply delusional.  
Suddenly the other’s voice caught his attention.

“What years are we ? In the other world ? Why are you dressed up like that ? It’s a sort of… uniform ?”

“Seriously ?” asked Matt surprised.

Ethan shrugged “We’re going to spend a lot of time together. At least you can satisfy some of my curiosities about you”

Matt snorted and for a moment he regretted the silence, but the he choose to respond to other’s questions.  
Indeed, as Ethan’d predicted, it wasn’t so difficult carrying out a conversation in a cage narrow and suffocating, almost completely dark.  
That, until the door got open and both the men stood up.  
What they saw was the silhouette of someone short and… little. The silhouette of a child more than an adult.

“Hello gentlemen” the little person came closer to them, enough to allowed the other to see her face.

Both Ethan and Matt were surprised to see a little girl in front of them. She had ginger hair, dark green eyes and she was dressed up like one of that little warrior princesses in the manga or in Japanese cartoons. A kitsune.  
She didn’t seem scared at all to be in the same room with two older men that could easily overpowered her, instead the child looked curious at them. As they were riddles she was trying to find the solution for.

“I’m Eri, I’m here to help.” she said then she turned toward Ethan “He sent me there. He simply told me that one of you is the key for our salvation from Cade, but for that, is necessary to help you to escape from there”

“Who are you ? How could we trust of you ?” asked Matt.

“I’m Stefan’s daughter, that’s all. Now, avoiding to waste more time, exchange the clothes”

“What ?” asked the two men stunned.

“Well, I need to take Ethan out of there, because he’s the key to find the only weapon capable of killing the Devil, but I won’t be able to do if he’s so recognizable. If I make believe Cade that I’m taking Matt out of Hell to blackmail his friends, he would allow me to do it. I’m a kitsune and I can create portals between the two world, unless you both got used to this place and prefer to remain here fo the eternity.”

Ethan and Matt shared a look. Could they trust her words ? It wasn’t like they have other choices, But what if it was a trap ? What if Cade found out that Ethan was collaborating with one of his hunters ? What if…  
Eri rolled her eyes and closed the door, saying that she would wait for them to exchange the clothes, whether they would do it voluntary or not.  
At least someone took a decision, even though it was a little forced.  
They began to undress, pondering about whether they were doing the last insanity or not.

  
…

Henrik…  
It was the only name the Mikaelsons, save for Freya, had in mind.  
A name, six letters, a prayer, a memory, a ghost, an open wound. A tear of blood along their hear.  
It was him, their little brother. That young boy was their little brother. The little brother they all thought to have lost a long time ago.  
It was true, the boy introduced himself as ‘Henry’, but they had no doubts.  
Henrik… Henry… the names were similar and also the boy looked a lot like Kol and Elijah.

“Henrik…” Rebekah whispered while she began to cry the tears her brothers didn’t date to shred.

“Henrik ?” asked Elena remembered the name of their youngest brother.

But wasn’t he dead ?

“Henrik ? I haven’t been called this way since my soul was sold to Cade by Esther. Nor that it was such a great loss. I’m so grateful for mommy for having invoked that beautiful woman. Beautiful… so much beautiful that her eyes seem to lead all people to Hell…”

“Sybil” whispered Caroline with a grow, remembering how her daughters kept to call her ‘beautiful’ after their kidnap.

Caroline recognized the way her daughter pronounced the word ‘beautiful’ about Sybil and how their faces enlightened when they thought about her. The same thing was happening to Henry.  
So that was what Sybil did to the people around her, women, children, men…  
Henry looked crazy in love with her. So obsessed. So devoted.  
And what was that story that Esther sold him to Cade ? Turning her children into vampires and then used her husband to hunt them down wasn’t enough ?  
All the Mikaelson, included Freya, who understood who that young boy was, were fuming for the wrath.  
So that was the reason why Henrik was alive ? How could their mother kept this story hidden from him ?  
They all knew Esther was a women full of secrets, but they hoped Henrik would never be one of them, not after she knew how much they mourned the dead of their youngest sibling.  
They looked at them and their hearts brake at the only thought of all the cruelty Henrik suffered all alone. Without no one of them.  
They could see, from his posture to his smirk, that something in Henrik was irremediably broken.  
Their youngest brother was broken, as them all and somehow they all felt responsible for that.

“What ? Are you not happy to see me ? I must say, You haven’t changed and you’re all beautiful as I remembered. Elijah, Niklaus, Kol… Rebekah… Oh… I didn’t mention my oldest sister Freya, isn’t it ?” he said almost hearing at them.

Henry was looking at them with an expression that meant ‘yeah, I know everything and I knew it even before you, assholes’.  
For a moment, he wondered why did he wait so long to reveal his presence to the rest of the family ?  
The tears in their eyes, the displeasure, the guilty… they were so much fun. Yes, Henry Knight, the wicked Sinner Hunter was entertained by his siblings’ pain.  
Everything was going accordingly to his plan, if he kept to ignore the little pain inside his chest.  
He only had to keep to remind himself that Rebekah wasn’t his sister anymore, that he didn’t want any hugs or kiss from her and that he wasn’t going to miss her lullabies in the future.  
He only had to avoid to look Kol in the eyes, the same dark eyes with the same shape of his own. Family weren’t made by blood, but by fate.  
He only had to ignore Elijah’s pretense, even thought, it was the oldest of his brothers who taught him how to hunt, how to fish and how to repair things, because that was what Elijah always did; he repaired what his siblings broke.  
Not looking Nik was the most difficult part. Nik, not Klaus, Nik, because it was sweater, as his favourite brother used to be.  
The brother who made all his toys, who woke him up to see the sunrise together, who… who tried to protect him until the end and who hold his hand until he died.  
Klaus that remembered him so much of Stefan…  
They shared the same kindness, the same love for poetry and art, they were confident about their skills but not arrogant enough not to see their flaws.  
Okay, not his chest was hurting and he gasped, trying to breath, when suddenly he looked at Freya and he did remember why he was doing it.  
For himself, for the all the children who had been killed or abandoned by their irresponsible mothers. Freya killed Dorian only because she was too weak to fight for him. She chose the easiest way instead of running away.  
So did Esther. Instead of trying to find a solution for her mistakes by herself, she sold him to Devil in the hope that Henry would have picked up the pieces at her place.  
He didn’t even realize that he was fuming so much that his necklace begin to burn his skin, and that the Hellfire started to surround his shape.  
The other were looking at him with fear and terror.

“This is Hellfire…” said Henry “…capable of burning everyone and everything…” he said began to burn everything close to him “… Even the souls…”

“Why are you doing this ? It’s for Cade ? Would you kill your family for him ?” asked Caroline disgusted.

“Henrik…” said Rebekah tryin to stand up, but her legs were trebling too much so she had to cling on the table “ What happen to you ?”

“What happen to me ? Love. There’s a demon inside my heart who came from Hell, and she turned my eyes from God and made me fell. I barely knew her, but I knew I would have sold my soul to Lucifer to hold her inside my arms. To have her locked up in Hell with”

“Sybil ? That woman abused of you, I can see it from your eyes. I saw what she does to men. She considered love a game or a sin. She’s never loved you” said Alaric.

“Sybil ? What did she do to you ?” barked Elijah.

Who was that woman ? Did she dare to… ? Did she… ?  
Disgust was evident in his face and on the faces of all his siblings and they felt toward this mysterious woman they’d never met.

“I wasn’t talking about her. I’ve known her longer than all of you. There’s nothing you can tell me that I don’t know. I was actually talking about Esther, that whore of my mother”

“What does all of this have to do with our mother ? She hurt all of us, no one of us have been spared by her cruelty but we don’t deserve to be punished for her mistakes !!” shouted Kol.

“She sold my soul to Devil for YOUR mistakes !!” shouted Henry “Why do you think I’m still alive ? I’m the backup plan. I was supposed to hunt you down and erased vampires from the face on the Earth, in case Mikael failed. I was supposed to kill all you, that was my living purpose”

“And now do you mean to accomplish ? After a millennium ?” asked Klaus hurt.

“And doing something that can make my mother happy ? Please, I have a bad reputation to keep. If I’m not anymore in God’s grace is only because of her, so I made a deal with Cade to drag my mother’s soul in Hell and enjoy the show of seeing her soul being ripped apart, over and over again, by the beasts down there” he concluded with a maniac laugh than made everyone shiver.

Klaus couldn’t believe that the man in front of him was Henrik, his Henrik. His lovely little brother had been turned into a maniac murder who was trying not to feel anything but Klaus noticed, he’d seen, the pain when Henrik looked at them, when Rebekah called him ‘Henrik’.  
He could only imagine what Henrik had been through all those centuries but now that he knew that he was till alive, Klaus would fight for him. Klaus would save him.

“Henrik, I’m sorry, I’m really sorry but please… Don’t do this. We can still be a family ! We’re your family” said Klaus.

“Another thing I’ve learnt is that family is not made by blood, but by fate. I have already my hellish family. I have everything I want N… Klaus. I have a mother, I have a lover, I have power, nice clothes, jewels, money… I can control Hellfire. I can kill someone only wishing for it. What can you offer to me that Cade can’t offer twice, three four time more ?”

“A family, Henrik. A family composed of people who truly cared about you, who have loved you with all their heart since the day you were born”

“It’s not enough. Love is pleasant, it can made the most miserable people happy, not the greedy ones unfortunately. See, I’m greedy and I’m a material boy. I’m here only because Cade wanted me to get rid of all of you scrubs”

The Greedy ? It was the word that caught Elena’s attention. So Henrik Mikaelson represented one of the sins Cade was going to use to destroy the world.  
He had to know who was the Gluttony, if it was a he or a she, where they could find this person.  
If Elena understood something about that guy, was that he was greedy, not only about material things, but also about power. She’d met too much people like him to understand that he wasn’t planning to be Cade’s minions forever.

“Are you greedy ah ? Then what ? You kill your family and then you plan to be Cade’s subordinate for the eternity ? Why don’t you make a deal with us ?” asked Elena.

“What ?” exclaimed Alaric “Are you getting crazy ?”

“Do you think I haven’t elaborated a plan yet ? As I said, there’s nothing you can offer to me. But I know what you hoped to obtain from me… The Gluttony… ah ?” he asked smirking victorious.

Elena, Caroline and Alaric blanched. So he knew !! He knew what Beatrice told to them !  
They had lost their advantage and maybe even their possible alley. What if Beatrice lied to them ? What if Cade used her ?  
How could Henry know it ?

“Let me explain something. When you’re around someone like me who have the irritating abilities of reading your mind, please, refrain yourself from divulging informations you wouldn’t want me to know”

“Shit !!” shouted Alaric.

“Oh that’s right !! ahahahah “ Henry bursted in another maniacal laugh “Now I know that you know a way to kill Cade, that you need one of my brother’s help and that you still don’t how where to find either him or the weapon. You’re groping in the dark, cute. You will be cuter now”

Then Henry used the Hellfire and created a fire barrier that divided Caroline, Alaric and Elena from the rest of the Mikaelson.  
Then Henry drove the flames toward any every corner of the room, to prevent them from escaping, then he also set fire to the ceiling, so that the entire room was surrounded by flames.  
He could see the fear in the eyes of his hostages and he loved it.  
They didn’t know that Hellfire couldn’t hurt them unless he wanted it too. That was the power of a God, have the power to chose where they were going to die, who of them, who was going to die first.  
His siblings couldn’t believe at what was happening. Was their brother going to kill them all ?

“Fumée chaleur vicieux enfermé les vitres la bas”

He couldn’t finish to pronunce the spell that suddenly he heard the noise of Dorian’s wheelchair behind him and that made him smirked.  
’Now the real fun begin’ he though, turning around toward Dorian who was leading the wheelchair.  
Dorian hoped not to have arrived too late. Stefan had been so kind to accompany him in the library and helped him with his wheelchair, despite the Hellfire. They were hunters and the hellfire couldn’t harm them, but it could be very difficult walking through it since you saw nothing around you.  
He hoped to see his mother, finally.  
He hoped that she was still alive.

“Henry ?” he asked, trying to understand why so sudden his heart was beating so fast.

‘Who’s that boy ?’ thought Klaus.

Henry immediately read his though and he said “Do you think I’m the only child Sybil dragged in Hell ? Do you think I’m the only chosen child who had the honor of serving the King of Hell ?”


	43. The puzzle of snake

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If you can't win the game, if you can't solve the puzzle, you're nothing but a loser.
> 
> \- Near, Death Note

**CHAPTER**

Stefan couldn’t believe that it was finally happening. Finally, all his efforts were going to be recompensed, once and for all. Finally he had Damon’s fate in his hands…  
He hadn’t planned to kill Damon or to hunt him down all this time before, but now, that he could kill Damon so easily, something inside him, a dark force, kept to whisper to him to…   
‘We should kill him, if you don’t want to… I will for you… for both of us’  
He tried to ignore it but it was too hard.  
Damon was the main cause of his misery, it was only because of him if he became a Sinner Hunter, if he didn’t have the possibility to live his life on his way, being free of taking his own decisions, being free of be happy with someone else instead of living and hiding in the darkness.  
‘It’s only because of him that we have been serving a crazy idiot. It’s only because of him. He deserves to die’  
After accompanied Dorian to Freya, he dragged a fainted Damon in the wood and he waited for him to wake up.   
It was a good thing that Damon hadn’t woken up yet, it gave Stefan time to think what exactly to do next. Furthermore, Damon hadn’t feed up himself for all those day he was under the spell, which meant his body was weaker and it was the reason why he was still senseless.   
‘Apparently God is on our side… Amen’  
Kill or not to kill ?  
Revenge or forgiveness ?  
Damnation or salvation ?   
Should he give Damon the human blood he had in his flask ? Or should he throw it away ?  
Or should he pour the blood on the ground, when Damon woke up, and oblige his bother to humiliate himself licking the blood ?   
He shouldn’t have thoughts like those. It was so easy a moment ago controlling all his anger and resentment toward his brother. But now…   
‘Now it’s time for allowing me to take control of the situation. Let the Ripper take control… I will do what it’s needed’  
Stefan could see all the bad things Damon’d done, the murders, the rapists, the blackmails, he could see the tears of his victims, almost tasted on his tongue their blood, he could almost feel the softness of their skin under his fangs…  
Damon was pure evil and nevertheless he had everything Stefan wished for himself, friends, a lover and somehow a certain stability in that mess of his life.  
It wasn’t fair, no fair, at all.   
‘We’re going to have power… We and Eri will have the glory… We will rule the world…’  
Damon did nothing to deserved that…   
‘No, he doesn’t deserve nothing but to die… if you can’t… then allow me… I don’t love him… I don’t need him…”  
His brother was a monster, exactly as he was, and even worst, because he could also sense that Damon didn’t regret one of the things he’d done. He had no faith, he had no conscience, he had no dignity. He wasn’t deserving of happiness. Stefan couldn’t let that happen. Neither the Ripper inside him.   
For once, both of his personalities were agreeing on something and became one thing, one mind.

“Wake up you piece of shit !” he shouted punching Damon right in the face, making his nose bleed.

“Auww… whoever you are piece of…”

“Shut the fuck up !! I’m that dumb of your brother that saved your life a long time ago.”

That voice… Damon would have recognize everywhere, not matter how much time had passed since the last time.  
Slowly, he opened his blue eyes, and he saw Stefan who was next to him… ready to kick him in the face and he actually did…  
Damon was going to kill the scumbag who did it.  
He ordered to himself to stand up, himself disobeyed. His body was still too weak and he could barely see who was in front of him.

“You little shit !” shouted Damon trying to stand up.

“Long time no see ah ? Did you miss me ? Have you ever though about me all those years ?” asked Stefan grabbing the other by his neck and pushed him against a tree “Because I can’t say I did”

“Okay, okay, I remember you to be the good brother… What you’re doing is not ethical…”

“Oh, I’ve done a lot of things not properly ethics since last the day you abandoned me.” then he punched his brother on his face, breaking his lip and his jaw.

The beast had finally bared his teeth, the Ripper was slowly taking control over Stefan and was ready to turn his dear brother into a jigsaw puzzle, made of flesh, bones and blood.

“Dear diary, a chipmunk punched me today after a long period of time spent under a spell… Do you still keep a journal don’t you ?”

“Do you ? You should added to have got kicked in ass by my not so dumb brother. Just in case”

“Why are you so mean to me ? You were supposed to be all sappy and happy when we would met again…” he said with sarcasm.

If his brother hadn’t punched him when he was still unconscious, Damon would have shown more happiness for seeing his brother.  
Truthfully, he didn’t know what he felt in that moment.   
His brother looked so similar and yet so different at the same time. There was something in his brother’s eyes, a sinister light, that was scaring Damon, even though he would never admit.   
He knew his brother could become pretty… sadistic when it came with revenge. Damon admitted that he was surprised that Stefan even gave him some blood before to punch him.   
There was something wrong wit him and since when had him become so strong ?

“How many did you have to kill to became so strong ?” he dared to ask.

“Enough to become a God. You killed hundreds of them to your own appetite, this makes you a best. I killed thousands of sinners for a new world, this make me God”

‘Why am I talking like that ?’ wondered Stefan that began not to feel completely himself.  
Probably he simply passed too much time with Henry and his idiocy entered in his mind, like a virus.   
Or maybe… Seeing his brother again had awoken up something in him, an hatred he didn’t realized to feel.

“God ? Really ? God ? Are you going to kill me with your blue fire Hades ? Your hairstyle is quite similar.” said Damon touching his broken lip “I wouldn’t worship you either way. Atheist.”

“Of course. Well, before to become a God, I have to cut off any ties with my past, which means that I have to kill you. Ironic ah ? Everything started with me that I saved you and will finish with me killing you.”

“Stefan…” whispered Damon.

“Don’t worry Damon, you’re giving your life to save mine, you’re repaying you depth. You’re giving your life for a God. You should feel honored”

The more Damon looked at his brother, the more he noticed that a certain insanity was deforming Stefan’s features, which looked little uglier and made him feel look like a maniac. His brother’s eyes were green forest, now they were more like golden with slight shades of green, the eyes of a demon. The veins around his eyes almost arrived under the chin and that wasn’t normal too.  
Then he understood. In front of him there wasn’t his brother, but the famous Ripper of Monterey and he was going to be his victim.  
‘Shit...’ he thought.

  
…

  
“Come here, Dorian, introduce yourself” said Henry with a smirk.

““Zaijakuna tsuyo-sa. Masutāmī no teishutsu. Bōryoku no eregansu. Jinsei no shi. Kikuzu no chikara. Dorian Knight, herishiddochesu-ban no tō” Dorian said observing all the people in from of them, searching his mother with his eyes.

  
“Strength in fragility. Mastery in submission. Elegance in violence. Death in life. Power in Sloth. Dorian Knight, tower of the hellish chessboard.” translated Henry “Nice introduction, don’t you think ?”

“How could… You don’t want kill us in front of him, do you ?” asked Rebekah getting angry “He’s only a child !”

“So was I” answered Henry with coldness “Dorian has suffered because of his mother’s mistakes even before he was born. In fact, to resurrect him, I had to find an adequate surrogate mother. Sound familiar, Miss Forbes ?” he asked caressing Dorian’s blond hair.

Caroline gasped. How could Henry know this ? She knew that Sinner Hunters could see the sins committed in the past, but not all the past events.   
Probably Sybil had spied on them and then revealed all the informations to all the Sinner Hunters, such Henry.

“Sybil could read people’s mind. So can you. Did she tell you all the informations she got on us before coming here ?” asked Caroline with confident.

“Not exactly, but you’re smart. You do know I can only see your sins but not your past. Since you’re going to die, I reveal you a little secret, telepathy is the best way to communicate. All the Hunters’ minds are linked by this ability, which means that all my thoughts or the thoughts I read in the other mind could be read by my colleagues any time. It’s the same for Cade”

“Wonderful…” whispered Kol with irony “Our little brother has a lot of special abilities and we have nothing to defend ourself.” he stood up, trying not to be touched by the hellfire “Henrik…”

“Henry, please. Now, Dorian, why don’t you tell them why are you here ?”

“Because Cade allowed me to meet my mother, for the first and last time, before I kill her. Who of them is my mother ?”

“Why don’t we let her guess ? Who of you ladies has ever aborted before ?”

Klaus gasped in horror L and looked at Freya who was shivering and who was looking at the young boy with wide eyes and tears who was on the point of being shred. Freya confessed only to him that, to escape from their aunt, she tried to commit suicide and doing this, she only managed to lose her son.  
Klaus looked at the boy on the wheelchair and he noticed the evidence resemble between him and Freya, for the only exception of the eyes.   
Freya had light blue eyes, the child’s eyes were light green, almost grey, provable he took them after his father. For the rest, he looked like Freya.   
Why was Henrik doing that ? Why was he behaving so cruel ? Why putting up this show ? Why using Freya’s unborn child for his sick revenge ?  
Freya couldn’t believe it, the only thing that made all the situation more realistic was the huge pain she was feeling inside her heart, so strong that she could barely breath.   
Her baby… him was her baby. The baby she always wanted, the bay she though to have lost forever.  
The baby she killed for a mistake, the huge and biggest mistake of her life.   
Why was he on a wheelchair ? Why did he look so pale ?   
He looked like a teenager, he had to be thirteen, not more.   
She wondered what did he like ? if he was happy to meet her.   
Then she noticed he was holding something in his hands. A silver flute.  
She gasped. Silver… like Stefan’s bracelet, Alistair’s watch and Tyallah’s anklet.  
Her baby… was … a…  
The other people in the room hoped that it was only the last of Henry’s bad jokes.   
By reasoning it was not so difficult to understand who the was the aforementioned ‘mother’. Elena knew it couldn’t be Caroline and surely wasn’t herself, and she didn’t think it was even Rebekah.   
But maybe the Freya, her older sister…  
At the same conclusion arrived the other. Rebekah looked at Freya with pain, sadness and hurt. Why didn’t her sister confided with her ? They were sisters, how could…  
Then Bekah understood ‘I’m not a mother… Klaus on the other hand... I’m sure he knew’. That knowledge didn’t make her feel less betrayed.

“He’s a Sinner Hunter… You turned my baby into a Sinner Hunter !!” Freya shouted “Delfan eoten cor”

That spell should allowed a witch, in that case Freya, to telekinetically rip a victim’s hear out from his chest.  
Henry thought that she had to be pretty naive if she thought that a simple spell like that could kill him.  
Henry Knight had no heart. It had been reduced in dust by the Hellfire a long time ago… He was only a projection of the boy he used to be.

“Ah ah ah, seriously ? Of all the spells you can use to kill me, you chose such banality ? Come on. This is funnier” he said grinning “Espirimus Paratis”

Of course, Henry liked thinking big, so he used the spell to attack all the people in the room.   
Why settle for one person when you could torture more at once ?  
It was time for Dorian to learn the real power, to learn what meant to be a Sinner Hunter, a God, someone who had the power to chose who lived and who died.   
Someone who was above everyone.   
Dorian, who hadn’t taken his eyes off the woman who shouted, was really worried that Henry would kill her before he had the possibility to talk with her.   
She could see that his mother was suffering, trying with all her strength to breath, to resist to the spell, without any success, just like everyone in the room.   
He couldn’t care less if the other people died, but at least Dorian wanted to talk with his mother. It was his only wish.

“Henry, please” he begged “Don’t kill her. I want to talk her first. Please, it’s my only wish”

Henry couldn’t say he didn’t see it coming, it would have been surprising if Dorian didn’t ask to talk with Freya before she died. He interrupted the spell, at least he owned Dorian that much.  
Dorian couldn’t believe at his eyes. So that blond woman was his mother, his real mother.   
He felt another feeling in his heart, joy. Specially because although the hellfire was all around the room, she was coming closer to him. She wasn’t scared, she was willing go getting burned to come closer to him.  
He didn’t want to disappoint, so, slowly, he tried to stand up from the wheelchair and put his feet on his floor, but his legs tremble too much and inevitable he fell on the floor.   
Freya gasped then she ran toward him, hoping that he didn’t get hurt. She kneeled in front of him and helped him to sit again on the wheelchair.

“Why can’t you walk ? What did they do to you ?” asked Freya caressing his face.

“I’ve never learnt. Devil feared that if I’d knew, I would have walked away” answered Dorian as he was merely explain a matter of fact.

“That bastard… That… I… I’ve always wanted you… You are the only thing I’ve truly wished in all my life…” she said through tears, while she caressing his face.

It had to be a dream…  
Freya lost the count of the times she dreamed a moment like that, where she could touch his son’s face, caress his hair, hear his voice, see how he would look lice once grown up. If he took more after her or his father.  
Dorian took after her his hair, his complexion, the the shape of the eyes but not the color.  
Hers were light blue, Dorian’s were green.

“Henry said I should kill you, because a mother who abandoned her son… doesn’t deserve to be forgiven.”

“What ? Henrik !!” shouted Rebekah “You can’t do this to him !! You can’t make Dorian kill his own mother, your sister !!”

“She’s nothing to me” simply replied Henry shrugging.

“Henrik, no one child deserve to be tricked into kill his own mother !! It’s the cruelest thing in the world !!” shouted Caroline.

“Actually, if someone had offered me the possibility of killing Esther myself, I would have considered him a bless”

“Henry’s mother abandoned him. You aborted because you didn’t want me, because you were weak, if you’d really loved, you’d found another way” said Dorian.

“Dorian… I loved you, I love you. I didn’t try to kill you back then, I wanted to kill myself too so that we could have reunited with your father. I swear to God that it didn’t pass a day without thinking about you”

“Dorian, please, don’t allow her stupid words manipulate you. Mothers are the best manipulator for their children, so they’re dangerous. She is sincere only because she’s determinate to prove in front of everyone that, in the end, she not so much a failure of a mother”

“Shut the fuck up you bastard !!” screamed Caroline “Dorian, I’m a mother too and I can tell you that even when we do something bad, because unfortunately we aren’t perfect and we made mistakes, even we may hurt you… We only want the best for our children and protect you”

“Listen to her, or use your powers Dorian” said Klaus “You’re a Sinner Hunter, you can sense the sins committed by the people around you. Lie is a sin. Use it on your mother, see if she’s lying”

Dorian turned toward Freya and looked her in the eyes and he used his powers. It was the first time he used them to another   
person but he’d practice and he didn’t sense any sin.  
His mother wasn’t lying. She really wanted him. She have been thinking about him since the abort.   
Henry, who could read Dorian’s mind, wasn’t happy about what he was listening. At all.

“If she loves you so much, then ask her why didn’t she try to find a way to have you back as I did” he said with venom.

‘Jerk…’ Klaus though with wrath.   
Henrik semel to have listened him and smirked for his comment. Somehow that made Klaus even angrier, as Henry was making fun of him.  
Klaus was tired of people who felt free of fooling around with him, even if they were friends or siblings.   
‘What’s your problem Henrik ? Why are you so determinate to ruin our family ?’ he asked through his mind, knowing that Henrik could read his mind.   
‘I couldn’t care less of your happiness. I needed to resurrect Dorian because I knew that, sooner or later, I would make a mistake that could have costed my life and so to save myself I needed to have something to sell to Cade. In this case, an Hunter”  
’So, this is what Dorian for you ? An exchange currency ? You’re doing with him what our mother’s done to you’  
‘I’ve always been sincere with him. He knew the truth. I don’t live behind a mask of lies as our stupid dumb mother. I need him to stay alive and he lives only because Cade accepted my offer. In the same moment that Dorian choses to betray his Master, he will die’.  
Klaus had to use all his self control not to shouted in anger against Henrik. So was that all the truth ?  
Dorian existed only as tool of the Devil ?   
Was going to be that his life ? Was going to be that Henrik’s life ?   
’Power… Immortality… Perfection… Gods… I used to believe that this was a punishment but now I know… I came to terms with my greedy. Stefan did the same, so will Dorian, by time’.  
’Stefan ?’.  
Henry smirked before turned toward him.

“Why didn’t you find a way to bring me back to you ? You killed me and then you simply moved on” said Dorian with coldness.

“No, Dorian, it doesn’t justify me but I swear… I was so broken… I’m broken… I didn’t think… It’s never…”

“She had time to dedicate to another child, Dorian, and she’s not even her daughter, and nevertheless your mother choose to dedicate her time to her and not to have you back”

“Does she call you ‘mommy’ ?” asked Dorian pronouncing the word ‘mommy’ as an offense.

“No !! Dorian, whatever you’re thinking, whatever he wants you to think, is not the truth. Okay ? I lost the hope, I was broken, I…”

“You… you… you… Where do I enter ? You’re selfish and if pain was so hard to put it up with then it means you’re weak. If you have time for another child and not for your own son, than it means that not only you don’t care enough.”

It was surprisingly how Dorian spoke those words, as he wasn’t talking or blaming his mother of not loving him, but as he was merely reading a scientific or psychology manual that he was trying to understand.  
Dorian didn’t look or talk like a child. If he felt hurt or jealously, surely he didn’t show any of them.   
He was so emotionless, so cold, he acted like a robot more than a child.   
Or maybe he was only letting his mother shredding tears for both of them, since he wasn’t able. Since he didn’t know how to cry.  
  
“Although I hoped… Nothing. I hoped nothing. It’s been nice meeting you.”

“Dorian…” Freya took his hand and kissed it “…It’s not too late. I don’t want to lose you again, I don’t care if you’re angry or disappointed with me or…”

“I’m nothing. Feeling requires too much energies. I’m not the Prince of the Sloth for nothing. I don’t feel, I don’t think, I don’t walk, I only exist to serve Cade. I own you a clearer explanation of course. I’m older than I look, I’m growing up really slowly because, technically, Hell is a timeless place, but I’m alive and so I grew slowly. I’ve spent more than one century, maybe two, or thee… down there… I’ve been told over and over again that my life has but a purpose…”

“All lies, Dorian, you’re more than they told you. I don’t know how many years they stole from us, but I can promise you that I’m going to fight for you. I’m going to save you”

“Now, this may is not a lie, but circumstances won’t change. I live only because Cade permits. If I refuse to work for him, he’s going to kill me. So… It’s you or me”

Henry, who didn’t interrupt his eye contact with Klaus, grinned and though ’Stefan’s here, with Damon, in the wood. Don’t you want to see him one more time before he become the new Devil’s whore ? Or mine, if I understood his tastes’   
‘Not today, brother’ Klaus thought.

“Dorian… now”

Dorian pushed Freya away “Don’t be afraid… Death is simply a sweet eternal sleep…”

Then he began to play his symphony. A sweet hellish lullaby from a boy to his mother…

…

Ethan almost couldn’t believe that it had been so much easy leaving the Hell. It looked almost like a joke, because he’d spent all those years inside that dark hole, thinking about a plan to escape from Hell, and now he found out that a little kitsune like the ginger ones in front of him, could create a portal to connect Hell and Earth.   
When it was hit turn to pass through the portal, he was a little scared. He had no idea of where he was going, how much the world had changed since his kidnap.  
He felt ridiculous in that clothes. Even though Matt looked similar to him, years of malnutrition and imprisonment, made his body too thin for Matt’s clothes to suit him. Furthermore, even though he was wearing that funny hat that hide his long dirty hair, whoever knew Matt would have realized that there was something wrong with him.  
Ethan looked more like a sick terminus, too thin, with pale skin, purple and chapped lips, dark circles around the dull eyes and the look of someone who has just walked across the Hell, as he actually had.  
‘Don’t be scare’ he repeated to himself “Nothing worse can happen at this point’. When he arrived at the end of the portal, instinctively he needed to close his eyes.  
Even though the twilight was close, the red sunlight was too strong for his eyes, so used to see in the darkness.

“It’s strong…” he whispered.

“Yeah” simply commented Eri closing the portal.

She wasn’t in the mood for chatting. She was anger and she wasn’t even the mood to be polite.  
She simply wanted to accomplish her task as soon as possible and come back to her otōsan. Maybe it was only her paranoia, but something was telling her that she would better hurry up.

“We’re near the Armory, but I feel something’s wrong. There’s another Hunter here… Not… two and there are other people and…”

Then she saw him… jumping out the window and ran away fast like the wind.  
‘Klaus… she thought…’  
Then she heard the melody, it wasn’t a normal melody and she had confirm of this when she noticed that suddenly, Ethan could barely walk and he walked with one hand on the wall not to fall to the ground. He was going to sleep…

“Ethan, cover your ears and listen to me. I’m telling you where you have to go and what you have to say, but listen carefully or you won’t make it our alive. I can assure you”

She gave Ethan instruction of all the directions to take to find the Bennet witch. Eri could feel her presence and she knew where Bonnie was but she couldn’t go with Ethan.  
If Henry found out that the most important prisoner of Hell was there on Earth, only God knew what he was going to do, if he betrayed her or helped her. Then she could feel that there was Dorian too…

“There are two Sinner Hunters inside the Armory, I can manage to stop one of them but the other is too much strong. Find Bonnie, tell her the truth, tell her that my father is the Gluttony. Now our only chance to defeat Cade is in your hand” said Eri before running away.

Ethan tried to call her back but the melody was making him sleep, so he had to cover his ears and started to run as well. If it was true that there were two Sinner Hunters inside the Armory, then he had to run the fastest he could, because he still smelled like Hell, he still smelled of copper, soot and sin, not to mention that the hellfire’s smog had a peculiar smell that only hunters could sense.   
‘At least I can finally stretch my legs’

…

Damon was running in the woods, faster as he could, but he was still too weak and his legs were screaming at him to stop, at least for a moment. He couldn’t, not if he wanted to survive. Running in the wood, barefoot, hungry to death, like a rabbit, was a deep wound on his pride, but he couldn’t do otherwise.  
‘I’ve met the worst scum of the earth; rubbish useful to nothing but pollute humankind...’.  
Damon tried to ignore Stefan’s voice in his head and kept running away, if he stopped, Stefan would kill him. The rule was simple.  
‘Experience should have taught you that running away is pointless. The hunter always caught his prey in the end’.  
Of course. Damon couldn’t forget how many time he mocked his victims when they tried to run away from him. It was his favorite part, when he gave them a false hope of salvation, the illusion that they could still be saved, that he was a mere human and not a vampire. Stefan knew it.  
His little nasty brother knew him better than anyone.   
‘World will be a better place once I get rid it of you’.

“Boh !” shouted the Ripper who appeared in front of him.

The Ripper had to admit that he was having so much fun. It didn’t happen often that Stefan allowed him to take control but he knew why.  
Stefan didn’t have the balls to kill his own brother and living with shame of begin a fratricide. The Ripper could, the Ripper could everything Stefan couldn’t.   
The Ripper could and wanted to turn the soft skin of his brother into a perfect macabre work of art…  
The Ripper had waited for that moment for so long after all, Damon had been a torn in his side since their first death, so obsessed with making Stefan’s life miserable, not thinking that in that way he was irritating him as well.  
Stefan was definitively more forgiving than him (actually Ripper wasn’t forgiving at all), Stefan loved his brother, the Ripper considered Damon a pure mean of entertainment.

“You know… when you intend to make someone else’ life miserable, be careful that your victim doesn’t have a double personality. It would be like tormenting two people at once and you can’t know how the other would react”

“So it’s the Ripper who’s hunting me down ah ? Where’s Stefan ?”

“He doesn’t want to talk with you. You made him angry” pouted the Ripper “I, on the other hand, am truly glad to finally have this little chat with you. Firstly, I wanted you to know that I know why you hate Stefan so much”

“Oh yeah ? You can’t have feelings, how are you supposed to understand mine ?”

Ripper smiled then, when Damon tried to punch him, he punched him back, hitting his hand and braking all the fingers with the wrist.   
  
“Pain. Not only the physical one you’re experimenting now. You wants Stefan to suffer because he pushed you int turning yourself in a vampire, while everything you wanted to do was letting yourself dying. You blame Stefan for your misery and you’re actually wrong. Human or vampire doesn’t make any difference, you’ve never known how to live properly. Always the second, or the worst, or the most useless… Even when you choose to become a murder Stefan was better than you, I know for sure because I’m better than you”

The Ripper knew to have hit a soft spot when veins appeared around Damon’s eyes too.   
Damon was excellent at fishing anger with anger, and the Ripper knew all the better triggers to turn on Damon’s wrath. It was what made him slightly more entertaining.  
Damon swore that he was going to brake other’s handsome face. He couldn’t care less if he killed Stefan by killing the Ripper, he was too angry and also naive because he was reacting exactly like the Ripper wanted him too.   
Damon was bad tempered and once he lost control it was difficult for him to take it back and someone who wasn’t in control… was easy to kill.

“Oh… Did I make you angry ? Did I make you want to beat me ?” Asked the Ripper with a fake displeasure “I’m not done with our chat. There’s more.”

“I don’t care”

Damon tried to attack him twice but Ripper stopped both the attacks and he was also getting bored.   
Damon’s body was too weak, his mind as well. Too weak, to easy to manipulate, too easy to brake.

“You loved Katherine, but she didn’t love you back and you didn’t want to live in eternal to wait for someone who didn’t love you. But Stefan didn’t want to be alone, he acted selfish, for once in his life, because he wanted his brother at his side and you’ve been punishing him for this, that’s why you’d left. That’s why you disappeared. Like a coward, because that’s what you are”

“Me ? Who’s hiding behind a mask right now ?”

“Who’s been hiding since the day of his born behind a mask of arrogance, pride and indifference ?” asked the Ripper licking his lips then he grabbed Damon by his shoulders, turned him and brake his spine. Then he kicked him behind so that Damon fell with the face on the mud like the worm he was.  
Inside him there was a voice who was struggling, someone who was begging him not to hurt the piece of rubbish in front of his eyes, but the Ripper ignored it.  
It was his turn, that body belonged to him now. No one could use him, the Ripper of Monterey, not even Stefan.

“You’re boring me to death. It’s evident you’re not in shape to fight against me and do you’re ruining even my moment of glory. Doesn’t matter. Now I’m going to kill you and then I will finally have my life back. Too pity you failed to be a good opponent in this round”

“Then I will have to commit myself to do better” said a voice behind him that punched him hard and almost dislocate his jaw.

The Ripper didn’t have time to remain surprise that someone punched him right on the jaw and then on the stomach, for grabbing his throat in the end.   
He smirked when he realized that his assailant was nothing less than the fallen King of vampires.   
What was he doing there in Mystic Falls ? How could he know that Stefan would have been there ?   
Probably it was just a coincidence. Cade would have ordered ‘them’, him and Stefan, to kill Klaus if the Devil had known of his presence. Maybe Cade chose to play him another trick by telling him that Damon was his only target in that mission.  
Now Stefan was truly screaming inside him and was fighting to take control again, but Ripper pushed him back again. It was his time to play.   
Also, if Stefan came back in Hell leaving Damon or Klaus alive, Cade would kill him and himself, the Ripper, as well.   
Stefan had emotions that could prevent him from killings his older brother and the man he loved, but the Ripper had no intention of following the most idiotic part of himself in the grave.

“Are you here to save your dear boyfriend ? Or to kill him ?” He asked “Sorry, but we’re late for an appointment”

The Ripper got himself free of Klaus grasp and tried to hit him but Klaus kicked him and made him fall on the ground.  
‘Finally a good opponent’ the Ripper thought.  
He loved challenge and Klaus looked ready to kill him, or Stefan at least.  
Apparently being dumped after a good sex had to be a shameful wound on Klaus’ pride.  
Unfortunately, differently from the dumb he was going to kill, Klaus knew how to make a good use of his anger, so the Ripper couldn’t use it against him and provoking the fallen king wouldn’t be a good idea.  
He was an Hunter, but Klaus was an hybrid, he was stronger than a normal vampire and his venom could still kill him.   
If he died, he would waste too much time before to come back alive, time he actually didn’t have.

“Are so angry with him ?”

“Why are you talking about yourself in third person ? It’s confusing and irritating.”

“I’m not talking in third person. I’m surprised you can’t recognize the man you love from the Ripper of Monterey” he said with a bow “I thought to have impressed you but you quickly forgot about me”

“Oh love, I knew you were a mess, but not so fucked up” said Klaus punching him again.

Klaus was furious and he couldn’t care less if he was hitting the hands… the ugly face of the Ripper of the man he lov… he hated with all his heart.   
The luck was apparently on his side since it permitted to him to escape Henrik and the Hellfire. Maybe he shouldn’t have since he left behind his family and the heroes in the Hellfire, but when Henrik mentioned that Stefan was there he completely lost his mind and escaped few seconds before Dorian began to play his flute.   
He shouldn’t have looked for Stefan, but it was his wrath to lead him there.   
He had to see Stefan, he had to look him the eyes and order him to give him explanations about his behavior.   
No one left him after having sex, stealing one of his jacket for disappearing like a thief in the night without any explanations.   
Klaus would never forgive him for this. For having hurt his pride and his heart so much.   
The worst was that Klaus knew, he’d always been aware that Stefan was such a good player, an excellent liar, the best trickiest he’d ever met, the worthy ‘son’ of Devil and yet he allowed himself to fell in love with that piece of scum.

“How was the sex with Cade, you whore ?” asked Klaus kicking the boy, who was still laying on the ground, in the face.

“I’m a murderer, I sell my abilities not my body. I don’t need to have sex with Devil to have him wrapped around my little finger. Why do you think am I still alive ? Because I made a deal with him. My complete and utter devotion…” said Stefan mocking a moved voice “… in change of your salvation. But now you’re making things difficult again. Why can’t you stay away from Stefan once and for all ?”

“A deal ? No one asked him for this”

“Of course not. Stefan wanted you to be saved, both of you” he said pointing at Damon too “But, the truth is, that I want power and until I exist in this body with Stefan, there will always be a conflict and it appears I’m winning”

Then the Ripper kicked Klaus in the stomach, then he stood up and hit the other on his face.  
The Ripper was going to attack Klaus again but Damon, who made an effort to stand up, grabbed his wrist and broke it and then punched him under his chin.

“Give my brother back, you piece of shit !”

Klaus punched him as well “We are not interested in you”

“Offensive… I love it.” He elbowed Damon and then threw him against Klaus “You know, there’s a future I can almost seen, that can still become reality If I kill you. Me, next to Cade, as God of a new world, being one of the most powerful creature of the world”

“You’re delusional, if you think we can’t stop you. Stefan, please, wake up !!” shouted Damon.

“The people who cried because of you are going to have their revenge. I won’t let you interfere in my plans of becoming powerful enough to defeat Cade himself and then rule at his place as God. Do you really think that at this point I would let Stefan ruin everything only for you two ? It would be insane”

Damon slapped him and Klaus kicked him against a tree then he said “ Do you what is really insane ? Thinking that you’re perfect. Now I finally know the worst of you, you’re power hungry, completely free of control, unable to control their impulses and cravings, you’re a liar, a manipulative sadistic murder and nevertheless we both still love you and you know why ? Because you’re not perfect and we don’t want you to be, because your sufferance, its ours”

“Yes, it’s the reason why I exist. I don’t know what curse you drag behind you to rot everything you touch…” he said beginning to cry “… Your hatred turned everything into their twisted versions, the Ripper… I created him… I DO EXIST BECAUSE I NEED POWER TO KILL BOTH OF YOU !!”

The Ripper used the Hellfire to create a ring around him and both Klaus and Damon drew back.   
Damon was so determinate to put an end on that pathetic charade that he didn’t even want to waste time into interrogate Klaus about the nature of his relationship with Stefan, it wasn’t the time to be the protective brother, it was too late, but at least he could try to save him,   
Klaus, knew that Stefan was the only one who could save his soul, which meant that they were linked.   
He may still didn’t understand the extent of that link, but he knew it was there and that it could be the key to permit Stefan to come back in control.

“Stefan… I know… or I can guess your pain in this moment. I understand your loneliness, so similar to mine that I can taste it on my tongue. I understand that it’s not easy being a murder, being a simply pawn in a game that can destroy you at each move. I know that you’re doing this for your daughter too and…”

“Daughter ?” asked Damon stunned.

…

Eri hated being at Sinner Huntress, she hated the only idea of killing people only to pleasure the ego of a worm like Cade, but for the moment her silver sword was the only thing that was protecting her from Dorian’s flute.   
The slot couldn’t tame the wrath. They were opposite, as she and Dorian.   
She was the only one who could help Dorian and stop him before it was too late.  
Eri had been the only one until that moment to tell him, to push him to understand that he wasn’t just a doll, that he could still fight for his life, for his independence, that he could still learn to walk, that he could still have friends, a mother.   
Eri knew the abandon, her parents abandoned her and hehe would never forgive them for it. They broke her heart…  
Freya didn’t abandon Dorian, she didn’t mean to kill him, she was simply desperate and wanted to be free of Dahlia.  
Her only fault was her was her naivety.  
Unfortunately, Henry was a snake, he kew how to hurt people deeply because he easily understood their soul, their soft spots, their weakness, how to manipulate them and push them into believe what he wanted them to believe, with that damn cunning tongue of him.   
When she arrived, she could only hear the melody of Dorian’s flute and the Henry mad hysterical laugh.  
There were other people in the room, the Mikaelsons, two humans and one blond vampire and she could also see that they were almost completely asleep.  
She had to act, now.  
There was hellfire all around the room and now she could absorb it using her sword and so she did. She absorbed all the hellfire in the room, so that it couldn’t burn or hurt the asleep people in there, than she used an offensive spell to push Dorian down to his wheelchair.

“Ah !” Shouted Dorian falling on the floor and losing the grip on the flute, even though he tried to take it back “What’s happening ?”

“The mood breaker arrived, Dorian. Your father isn’t here, Eri”

“I can see it from myself, Henrik Mikaelson” she said with coldness “Why putting up this futile charade when we could have real entertainment ?”

“Oh… So bold and brave and so naive… You shouldn’t challenge me, not alone. You may are a kitsune but you’re not strong enough”

“I’m not alone. Am I ? Dorian ?” She asked coming closer to him.

Dorian turned toward her with surprise and maybe even with disdain “I don’t know… I don’t have opinions remem…”

“Bì zuǐ” (shut up) she ordered “Xiànzài shì zuò chū juédìng de shíhòule. Xuǎnzé, wúlùn shì shēnghuó zhōng de wáwá, móguǐ de núlì, háishì chéngwéi yīgè nánhái, bìng yǒngyǒu nǐ yīng dé de shēnghuó. Nuòfū huò zhànshì, nǐ shì shénme?” (The time to make a decision has come. Choose, whether to be a doll for life, slave of the devil, or to be a boy and have the life you deserve. Coward or warrior, what are you ?)

Dorian remained impassible, cold but it was obvious that something was changing in his gaze.  
He was anyone’s doll. Not Cade’s, not Henry’s, not Eri’s. He simply wanted to see his mother, it didn’t mean he wanted her inside his life. His body was useless and cruel, because he had legs but he didn’t know how to use them properly and that was frustrating.

“Dorian… I know what’s passing through that little head of yours and I can assure you that you won’t live longer than a blink if you rebel to Cade”

“What’s the point of my life ? I’m trying to solve this mystery… Why am I leaving ? For who ? I can’t think, I can’t walk, I only exist to obey and follow other people’s rule. I’m not different from the flute. Cold, lifeless, a weapon which loyalty belonged to the one who hold it. What I’ve left for myself ?” asked Dorian with tears in his eyes “I’m not sad, I’m not angry… I don’t even know what I feel. I only know that I’m going to cry. Is it normal ? I don’t even know this”

“Wouldn’t you like to know ?” asked Eri.

“Wouldn’t you like not to feel ? What you’re feeling is sufferance, Dorian. You may have never felt joy before, but believe me, joy is like a supernova, intense, bright, beautiful, warm but but short term too. Pain instead is like the blood that runs in your veins, once you felt it it became a part of you, sometimes the only thing that keeps you alive and push you to resist, day after day. You can ignore it, but it remains there, forever. Until the day you die and over. Not to feel anything is the best solution for you”

“Not to feel anything ? Nǐ shì yīgè lìng rén yànwù de nuòfū, yīzhǒng shīwàng, yīgè yǐncáng zài móguǐ lìliàng bèihòu de wúyòng de cúnzài, dàn réngrán shì yīgè wéiruò de.” (You’re a disgusting coward, a disappointment, a useless being that hides himself behind the power of devil and yet remains a faint)

Henry smirked and had to try not to laugh. He’d predicted that the day would have been quite fun, but he could have never imagined that things would turned out to be so much hilarious. He’d predicted all of this a long time ago…

“Itsi sist. Eksleebire. Ye non hun wesrat horri. Emi non kur uu reshtoeth muirepmi teprai Yesun Khriiston.” He said using Verbis Diablo (Stop. Go away. You have no power over me. I serve no god just Jesus Chris)

He has been planning Cade’s defeated since the day he chose to become his lover and have the Devil wrapped around his fingers, waiting for the moment when the object of devil’s desire would change and no one would have payed attention to him anymore.  
The Hellish throne had never been so close…  
Henry played his cards so well. He knew that he needed to know as much as he could form Cade, for all the time he would be his lover.   
Cade was prideful and stupidly he believed that, even though he played around with his hunters, they remained totally loyal to him.   
Well, of course he had to think like that.  
After all, all their existence were in his hands, they all lived because he permitted them.  
But any God has his prodigal son, so did Cade, but he simply identified the wrong one.

“I’ve spent almost eight centuries hiding myself behind the mask of the devoted son, but I’m actually the prodigal son and I don’t intend to follow that dumb to his farewell. It was me who pushed Sybil to find another hunter in change of her freedom. I broke her heart, I told her that Cade didn’t love her, I made her assist while me and Cade were having sex and so I broke her. She made a deal and found a new fruit, innocent, appetizing, a perfect virgo intacto. Stefan.”

“And then ?”

“Then I knew that he would pay attention to Stefan and only to him. Cade felt stimulated when people denied him what he wanted and I personally admired your father. He’s been so extraordinary to resist Cade’s attentions. All those years pent as an Hunter was nothing more than a gift to me, to elaborate any move to arrive at this moment. Me, Dorian, Stefan and you here in Mystic Falls with Ethan Maxwell and the weapon to kill Cade. And Sybil in New Orleans, ready to destroy the great heritage of my former family. Their kingdom and Klaus’ daughter”

‘Hope…’ Eri though gasping.   
Henry couldn’t be serious…. How could he only think of doing it ?   
‘You were right Eri, I’m a snake…’  
Eri looked at him with disgust and pure anger.   
So the real puppeteer was Henry, not Cade.   
It was because of him if her father was suffering, if they din’t have the possibility to be a normal family, if she had to become an Huntress to protect her father.  
Why ?  
It was like she was finally seeing Henry for the first time, for what he really was. A delusional child who still held a grudge over his mother, a spoiled prince willing to do anything it took to have what he wanted and who didn’t hesitate to even set the entire world on fire to obtain it.   
They weren’t Cade’s pawns, but Henry’s.   
For a moment Eri admired him, because that brat even managed to deceive the Devil’s himself.   
That encounter was nothing more than a trap…

“You used Verbis Diablo to ambush the Devil in the armory” she said stunned “You knew that Cade would have used his powers to control you, Stefan and Dorian all the time you would be there. Now that you have interrupted the connection…”

“Now that he can no longer control us, he would wait to rejoin to his sweet half before coming here and control the situation. Devil is too stronger in Hell, so he has to be dragged away from his hole and…”

“When he will come here, you intend yo kill him with the bone dagger and then become the new King of Hell and kill Sybil with him. Right ?”

“Of course. Sybil is the Queen on the chessboard, she will fight to protect her king, to ensure him the victory. Queen is my favorite piece. She is the strongest piece on the chessboard, and nevertheless if she dies the game continues, because she’s submitted to a weaker piece and yet more important, the King. Sybil and Cade will die.”

“For revenge ?”

“No. After all, if it weren’t for them I would have been dead. Instead I had this fantastic opportunity of learning so much about the world and I have plans for it too. Just… different from Cade’s ones…”

“Heh… What are you… Oh… Oh my God”

Then she suddenly understood something more and when her eyes encountered Henry’s she knew she was right. The puzzle was finally solved and trick revealed and the pieces were interlocked so perfectly that she was surprised she hadn't noticed before. The solution was always right in front of her eyes but never so clear. She smirked, now she knew who was the snake to fear. 


	44. Selfishness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Selfishness is not living as one wishes to live, it is asking others to live as one wishes to live.
> 
> -Oscar Wilde

**CHAPTER 44**

After yeas spent fighting the worst people of the world, Bonnie developed the capacity of waking up at the first sign of danger around her. Nor that the newcomer tried to hide his presence in the room where she was resting.   
She pretended to be still asleep, waiting for the moment when the other person would have done something or tried to do something.

“She looks so much like Beatrice…”

She forced herself not to open her eyes, even though she believed to recognize that voice but she wanted to wait.  
What if it was only a trick ? Someone who was pretending to be Matt or was imitating his voice.   
Maybe Sybil ? One of her kitsune ?   
Maybe she should attack ?

“Stop pretending you’re sleeping. I know you’re awake, I can understand it from your breathing. You’re getting anxious.”

Bonnie almost jumped out of the bed, throwing away the blanket.   
She looked at the Matt in front of her and she laughed. Was an attempt to reproduce a mediocre and battered version of Matt ?   
That Matt may was the photocopy of Matt if his face was less paler, less gaunt. Even the policeman uniform was too large for him. He surely knew Beatrice, but that wasn’t an insurance that they were friends or allies.

“Who are you ? I know you’re not Matt. You said…”

“That you look like Beatrice. Yes. I’m not Matt Donovan, but I met him, in Hell. I’m Ethan Maxwell”

Ethan Maxwell ? What was him ? Matt’s doppelgänger ?   
He could have been his twin.   
Maybe he was simply lying, even though he looked confident in what he said. But it could always be a trick.  
God, she hated being so paranoid but no other mistakes could be committed.   
If she wanted to survive, she had to start putting everything and everyone into question.

“In Hell ? Is where Matt is ? How did you escape ? Why he isn’t here with you ?” Asked Bonnie

“A kitsune, with ginger hair, a kitsune of fire… She helped me to escape from Hell. She said that I had to find you.”

“A kitsune ? I can’t trust any. They have kidnapped Matt !!”

But there was something else that was forming in Bonnie’s mind, a new line of thought.   
That man said a kitsune of FIRE. Beatrice told them that the fire and gluttony would help them.

“Someone else came with you two ?” Asked Bonnie.

“She said that there were two other Sinner Hunters and that her father was the Gluttony. I don’t know why but it was important for her and…”

Fire and Gluttony… the two words that Bonnie wanted to hear.  
So the Fire was a kitsune and she leaded that man, Ethan Maxwell to them, so that they could kill Cade.

“I know you’re the solution, the key to find the weapon and…”

“That was a false track. Few minutes before my kidnapped, we, me and Beatrice, had been warned by someone that Cade was coming for me, so we decided to make up a fall track.”

“What do you mean ?” Asked Bonnie confused.

“This man used a spell on me, to protect my mind from Cade, Verbo, Verba something… Well, it doesn’t matter. What does is that the weapon has been being under Cade’s nose since the moment I stepped into Hell”

“What ?”

“Yes… the bone dagger is inside me. Beatrice used a spell to replace one of my bone with the bone dagger and guess what ? Only a Bennet witch can use the reverse spell”

’There’s something strange…’ that was all Bonnie could think about.  
Everything seemed so easy, so affordable while only few minutes before she and her friends had any idea to kill Cade, or to find a weapon to use against him.  
Suddenly, not only Ethan escaped from Hell, but he also had the weapon hidden inside him and the Fire and Gluttony were out there as well.  
It was as if someone was giving to them the means to kill the devil spontaneously, maybe the man Ethan had mentioned before. But could she trust of that man ? Could she trust Ethan ? Pr was he also subjected ? How was it also happened to Enzo and Damon ?  
Maybe lucky was finally on their side, but Bonnie knew better than trust of coincidences.  
Something else was happening and she was afraid to find out what.

…

“What does it mean he has a daughter ?”

“Long story.” simply said Klaus “Listen, I know that you choose to play for the strongest only to protect her and…”

“That was everything I’ve left, because of you I lost her too. Cade turned her into a Sinner Huntress. I failed her, not all I can do… is killing Cade once and for all and for the moment… I’m not strong enough, but I will and then…”

“Eri is a Sinner Huntress ?” asked Klaus horrified.

“Do you think bad things only happen to you ? “ asked the Ripper with sarcasm “Do you think that you are the victim ? Even now that I’m telling you that everything that I’ve done it was for you. Well, now I can only save what I’ve left.”

Then he invoked more Hellfire from his bracelet, which began to burn his skin, but the Ripper easily ignored the pain.   
The Hellfire was nothing comparing to an eternity of boredom, locked up into a cage of sense of guilty and oppression.   
Eri was the only person who accepted both personalities of her father, Stefan and the Ripper. Something that no one had ever done before, even Lexi, or Damon.   
It was the only person who proved to love the Ripper, a part from Klaus, but he didn’t remember.  
He could see the hatred and disgust behind his blue eyes, the same eyes that admired him once.

“Remember… You used to love me... But then someone erased all the memories of me inside your head and Stefan’s as well but me… The Ripper… remember everything.”

“What ?” Asked both Klaus and Damon.

“I suppose it’s fair by me, since you’re going to be dead anyway. It’s been Henry who erased our memory…

…

_Damned, Damned Klaus… Damned Klaus, you are a curse for anyone who meets you..._

_Henry Knight repeated that phrase inside his head like a mantra, almost maniacally, it was everything he could think about._   
_That curse of his brother, if he could define so the obnoxious fruit of his mother’s affair, was trying to steal from him Stefan Salvatore._   
_He wouldn’t say that he loved Stefan like a brother, but he cared… somehow. Actually when they met for the first time the first day that Stefan arrived in New Orleans. Henry believed that Stefan was nothing more than simpleton, who constantly tried to keep at bay the worst part inside of him, the Ripper._   
_Boring, pathetic, week, unable to control his hunger… but then they met and for the first time, after so long, Henry became interested into another creature._   
_Stefan had been useful for many reasons, to stop his boredom and for his plans._   
_Since that little lad had become an Hunter, Cade lost completely interest in Henry, in what he did, where he went, what he thought. No more surveillance. No more control over his actions._   
_Finally Henry was free to act and prepare the last part of his plan._   
_Stefan was the perfect prodigal son he needed. The troublemaker, the rule breaker, the rebel. Stefan was prideful, sometimes even more than Cade, he hated the way Cade behave toward his minions and he hated being one of them himself._   
_Cade wanted him, wanted to possess and punish him for his misbehaving._   
_Yes… everything was happening according to his plans, a part from Klaus… Stefan’s soul to save and that was something Henry had never predicted and that was a huge mistake by him._   
_He also knew what was going to happen that night…_   
_Stefan would reveal his Ripper’s personality to Klaus, he was going to show the list hidden inside his apartment. That was the first step of his redemption path, then Stefan would reveal that he was a Sinner Hunter, that he killed his father, then Klaus would open up to him and then…_

_“And then all my plans to kill Cade would be destroy because of that bastard. Argh…”_

_He knew what was going to happen that night, which meant that he had only ten hours to think about something that could solve the problem._   
_Once Klaus would find out that Stefan was his soul to save, he would try to persuade Stefan to leave Chicago with him and Rebekah, until the toddler would be save from Cade and the bracelet disappear._   
_Now Henry was in his apartment in Chicago, admiring the city from his balcony and waiting for a person to arrive._   
_He knew how to use the Verbis Diablo, but another trick he’d learnt it was that Verbis Diablo not only could protect you from Cade’s powers but it could also protect the presence of an Hunter from another Hunter. That was why Stefan had no idea that Henry was still there, in Chicago._

_“What’s so interesting in the crowd ? I’ve never understood it” said a female voice behind him._

_Henry smirked “I didn’t call you for your intellectual skills. Jun, the Obedient”_

_“I know why you called me. Stefan’s met his soul to save, Cade wants him and because of this we must intervene.”_

_“Exactly. I haven’t been part of that family since the day I died, but I spy them constantly, them and Mikael. I know that there’s only one person that could make Klaus running away from New Orleans and that person it’s him.”_

_“So are you planning of helping Mikael to kill your brother ? Stefan would try to protect him.” Said Jun._

_“Mikael is simply the diversion. Once he arrive in the pub, the chaos will be unleashed, I will have the time to erase Stefan’s memories first, so that he wouldn’t run after Klaus. Then...”_

_“Then what ?”_

_“Klaus’ fate depends on whoever between me or Mikael will find him first.”_

_“Shouldn’t you just let Klaus die ?” Asked Jun skeptical._

_“No Jun. Now that I know the importance that Klaus has for Stefan, I may use it for my own advantage. Maybe in the future. If there’s something I have learnt about souls to save and their respective Sinner Hunters is that, not matter what, in the end, they are destined to meet until they wouldn’t save each other.”_

_“That’s why you should let Mikael kill your brother now. Or do you still care for him ?”_

_Henry smirked. He hated when people questioned his decisions or when they supposed things about his and his feelings toward his family._   
_Not matter how many centuries had passed, his family remained an open wound to him._

_“Lihednat Dolchitni”_

_He used and offensive Suffocation Spell, which allowed the caster to rapidly restrict Jun’ airways, stopping hair from flowing and causing her to asphyxiate._   
_Kitsune were strong creature, but they needed air to live and, if he had to be sincere, stay there and seeing how a powerful creature, almost a Goddess, like Jun, suffering so much, trying so desperately to resist against a such insignificant spell was refreshing._   
_It proved that even someone so close to be invisible could still be hurt._

_“I say you this once and I’ll never repeat it again. You are here to follow my orders. I couldn’t care less if you’re devoted to Cade or not. This will beneficial both. Me and him. Did you do what I order ? Yes or not ?” He asked interrupting the spell._

_“Yes. I found Mikael and I told him that Klaus is here in Chicago. Unfortunately, he won’t be able to arrive here until tomorrow night”_

_“It’s not a problem. Let have Stefan a romantic evening, because tomorrow… He will remember nothing and so will Klaus. If I chose to save him” he concluded._

_Henry’s heart was divided into parts. There was a part of him that was screaming at him to kidnap Mikael, Klaus and Rebekah and let them die together under the sunlight. Seeing their body burned and laugh at them in the process._   
_A slowly but painfully death…_   
_There was instead another part of him that suggested him to be reasonable, to let Klaus and Rebekah escaped._   
_There was nothing worst than living an existence in fear and terror, running away from someone who hated and wanted you dead with all your heart._   
_Who was Henry to put an end on that agony ? Klaus had no life and again he was Stefan’s soul to save, which meant that he could still be useful._   
_What if Stefan was going to need more… conviction for following his plan when time would come ?_   
_Stefan wasn’t a murderer or a double crosser like him, and he was also a father so he would never be willing to take too much risks with Cade._   
_Eri…_   
_He didn’t understand why Stefan adopted that creature, maybe he was simply jealous that Eri had another opportunity to have a family, with someone who genuinely cared about her._   
_Henry instead… Well, he didn’t change his opinion about families, nor that he had models that pushed him to. MIkael, Esther, Cade… them all were going to pay…_

_“I’ll act tomorrow night, as soon ad Mikael will make his move. For the moment, keep an eye on Mikeal. Make sure he arrives”_

_“Anata ga nozomu yō ni” (as you wish)_

_Then Jun went away, avoiding Henry’s gaze but he could easily guess the thought in her mind._   
_Jun wasn’t stupid, she could see the poison behind his eyes, she could see his true intentions. She knew that Henry was planning something against her Master and it was so fun that she couldn’t say nothing about it._   
_She had no proof and even in that case, it would be her words against Henry’s._   
_Actually it would be pretty interesting…_   
_He shrugged and then he returned to look at the crowd below, letting it get burned under his gaze._

…

“Stefan has no idea… But I see this sin every time I look in Henry’s eyes… His ambition, his greedy, his desire for revenge lead all of us to this moment. I’ve always known but I couldn’t say anything because Stefan didn’t let me take control !!” He shouted.

“What ? No… It’s not…”

Klaus felt the need to throw up.   
He didn’t want to think that Henrik’s desire for revenge was strong at the point of… So Henrik erased his memories of Chicago, because he needed Stefan to stay in the game, because he needed someone who would distract Cade from him.

“Do you understand now ? Henry’s hatred for you and your fucking family is the main reason why I’m here. Why all of us are at this point…” then he looked at Damon “The day you and Stefan met Sybil, it wasn’t a coincidence. Henry manipulated Sybil to find someone to sell in change of her freedom. This is simply Henry’s masterplan. That carrion even managed to deceive the Devil”

The Ripper didn’t like being used, not even by a great schemer like Henry, even if Henry actually wanted to use Stefan and not him. Well, him and Stefan shared the same body, so if someone used that idiot, then used him as well.   
He could also notice the pain in Klaus’ eyes and he was glad not be the only one annoyed in that situation.   
Oh, the tings he would like to do to Henry…   
That could be his lucky day, finally he would be able to kill Cade, Henry, Klaus and Damon in the same day. The four burden he would be better off without.  
Stefan would be so heartbroken after their death’s that he wouldn’t be able to live with the sense of guilt and so he would hide himself behind his Ripper self and the Ripper hadn’t waited anything else.

“Since the day I was born I’ve spent any seconds of my existence observing Stefan’s struggle not to drown into the darkness but now that I’m finally free, I would be even glad to burn in Hell, if it means to drag you there with me”

Then he attacked them again, he hit Damon under his chin and he kicked Klaus in the stomach.   
Then he grabbed Damon by his wrist…

“I hope you’ll enjoy my present for you. You blame me because you’re not longer human, than here it’s your humanity, jerk !”

The Ripper grabbed a little phial with red liquid inside, he forced Damon to open his mouth and made him to swallow the liquid.

“Kitsune are fantastic creatures, did you know Damon ? They’re amazing fighters, warrior, killers and they even masters of gardening. In fact they know how to cultivate flowers that can reverse the effect of all sorts of spells, even the vampirism ones My daughter is a kitsune. Consider it a little gift from your niece”

Damon was struggling to spit the liquid but the Ripper put and hand over his mouth, preventing him from opening.

“Swallow it, until the last drop” said the Ripper compelling him.

The Ripper was so focused on Damon, that he didn’t notice Klaus who stood behind him and took advantage of that moment to snap his neck.   
It was clear that, even if he was an hybrid, he couldn’t physically compete with the strength of an Hunter, so he was willing to use Damon as diversion, even at the cost of his immortality.   
Klaus couldn’t care less for Damon’s happiness. Maybe it was irrational, but he blamed the raven hair former vampire for Stefan’s misery.   
Surely… Kitsune had to be very powerful creatures, if they were even capable to create a cure with flowers to revert any sort of spells.  
Klaus could almost see how fast it worked the potion Damon had swollen. Vampires blood was different than humans, it emanated a different scent that made it irresistible for a vampire, and so their epithelial tissue.

“You’re almost human already…” he whispered.

“I’m going to kill… that piece of… it hurts…” said Damon who was struggling not to scream.

“You should be glad, now you will no longer have to chose between Elena and your nature. If you manage to survive somehow…” then he looked at Stefan “…I will better bring him somewhere else, away from you”

“You’re not going… anywhere… with my brother…”

“Seriously ?” Asked Klaus skeptical “Your brother’s homosexuality should be the least of your problem right now”

“Homo what ? My brother’s not gay !!”

Klaus blinked then he looked at Damon like he was nothing more than the punchline of a joke “I advice to spend more time with your brother in the future. He’s never loved Katherine, she compelled him to have sex with her, but he’s always been gay”

“It’s… this… How could be…”

“I witnessed of what he likes in bed” he said with a malice that implied a lot of thing.

Damon opened his mouth in disgust. Now he was getting sick. Too much emotions and news at once.  
First his awaken…  
Then his brother… and the Ripper…  
Now, whatever was running through his veins, was hurting him. He could sense that his body, his senses, the sight, hearing were…  
‘I’m simply becoming human again… Damn it, right now that I need my powers more than ever…’.

He looked at Klaus and asked “Well ? Why are you still here ? Do you prefer to enjoy the show ?”

“Actually I would like to ask you something before I leave with Stefan.” Said Klaus kneeling near Damon “Why did you abandon him ? You owned him years of freedom, do you understand this ?”

“Why ? Because he was suffering and I was incapable of taking care of him. My selfish and egocentric nature prevented me to be the responsible brother he deserved me to be. I resented him, because I though that, since Katherine has chosen him, he simply took her away from me. But now I know that it definitively wasn’t the case. I resented him because I wanted to die human, instead he pushed me in all this mess and…”

“He’s not responsible for all your bad decisions. If in some part of that little brain of yours there’s the conviction that he’s responsible for all the bad things you’ve done, then you’re wrong. I know because I used to blame everyone but myself of my misery. Yes, I had an abusive father, but then I became an abusive brother, an aggressive paranoid power hungry monster and I can’t blame my father for this. Not matter how many lies I tell myself”

“… Klaus, the darkness that surrounds my bother is different than the ones around us. You should have met him during the first years… days and days of depression, insanity and suicide attempts. He was letting himself go… I didn’t want to follow him in Hell”

Klaus was tempted to kill Damon at his point. He didn’t want to be in Hell ? What should Stefan have done ? He knew that Damon was weak, but now, if it wasn’t for his anger, he would have almost felt pity for him.   
It wasn’t so surprising that everyone preferred Stefan over him. Damon was pathetic in many ways. Incapable of taking responsibilities, good for nothing but to create trouble and waiting for other to fix them at his place. A good manipulator but an amateur compared to his brother.   
A good liar but all his charades were bad jokes compared to the plans that Stefan had come up in New Orleans.  
God, Damon hadn’t even been capable of surpass his brother’s fame as murderer.  
Damon Salvatore, the troublemaker.  
Stefan Salvatore, The Ripper of Monterey, Sinner Hunter.   
There wasn’t comparison.   
Stefan was better in anything and it was time for Damon to accept.  
The blond hybrid turned toward the death body of Stefan and suddenly realized how glad he was to finally see him. To know that he was okay, that Cade didn’t hurt him. That he was still alive and could still be saved.   
That they could have another opportunity to be happy together, without Cade or Henry to divide them. Stefan deserved to have an happy life and family with Eri.   
He did really hope it was not too late for them.

…

Henry had learnt so many tricks from Cade in those years, but he didn’t have the good opportunity to use them before. But now… to defeat a kitsune like Eri… it was time to use some of them.  
Eri was young, but she was also so smart and wise. A worth opponent he could some tricks with.  
He touched his necklace with his fingers and then he whispered some words, then the necklace became to shine.

“What are you doing ?” Asked Eri taking her sword.

Henry smiled then he said “I’m simply inviting some of my friends to play with us. The more the better, isn’t it? Say hello to my hellish friends”

He used his necklace to invoke Hellfire, from which various misshapen creature, surrounded by flames appeared from it.  
Eri suddenly recognized them. They were sinners, whose face was covered by flames and so their bodies, totally controlled by Henry and who were ready to attack her.  
She smirked. She was ready to fight against those monsters.  
Luckily, any kitsune was a fighter by nature, it was like any martial arts belonged to their genetic heritage, not matter if they hadn’t fight once before, or using a sword or any king of weapon.  
Fight was natural as running faster than the wind for vampires.  
Furthermore, her parents didn’t teach her a lot of things, but her mother taught her how to dance a deadly waltzer, perfectly suited for a young child like her, short, physically weak, who could count only on her agility and skills.  
One… two… three… four…  
The souls were clumsy, slow, due to the fire that surrounded them they couldn’t even see her moving properly.   
Even a stupid would have understood that those souls were a diversion, a way to distract her so that Henry could earn more time.  
More time to do what exactly ? That was the real question.   
There were forty souls left to send back to Hell, not enough to be make her feel in danger, enough to permit Henry to disappear, leaving her and Dorian inside the Armory with the dormant strangers.   
‘Where did he go ? Dorian’ she asked through her mind.  
‘I have no idea. He doesn’t speak with me about his plans.’  
‘Fine… ten… fifteen… twenty one…”  
‘You’re an excellent swordsman , you know that ?’  
Eri smirked, glad to finally be able to vent his frustration, even if her targets were not at all stimulating.   
Dorian couldn’t take his eyes off her… she was like a little phoenix, her and her sword looked like they were one simple thing and she was so elegant that that everyone could have thought she was dancing and not fighting.  
He envied her, with all his heart. He looked at his legs and again he could only think about how useless they were. He was his flute, that wasn’t so far away from him, and he used a spell to draw it to himself.   
Then he began to play it.  
After all, those monsters were almost all send to Hell, now he could wake up his mother and the other people who were sleeping because of him.   
Actually, the Sleep of Sloth was far painful than an ordinary sleeping spell. The Sleep of Sloth created an alternative reality when the victim was damned to see her life go by, without taking part. Like a doll… incapable of being part of his own life. Like he was doing.   
Having a life… fighting for what it looked like an good cause… saving the world… without being part of it…  
Just like a furniture.   
What was the sense of his existence ? Did his life truly had a sense only related to others ?  
Did he live only to obey other’s orders ?   
He looked at his mother while he was playing and he wondered if she could forgive him for this, if she still wanted him as she had stated.   
She was surprisingly beautiful, not that he was an expert of mothers. But she looked sincere when she said that she wanted him with her… He was an Hunter and she couldn’t lie to him so maybe it wasn’t too late. Maybe he could still have a mother, learn how to walk, maybe even how to run. Maybe even how to feel something for more than few minutes.

“Jigoku ni iki nasai” (go to Hell, bastard) said Eri hitting with her sword the last sinner, who screamed while her sword was sending him back in Hell.

Eri had never had the opportunity to learn how to play an instrument. Actually, she was pragmatic in everything, only doing or learning things that could actually help her to survive. Hunting, cure her wounds, cook, kill, defend herself, control her powers, learning how to speak English, French and other language to live in Europe and in America with her otōsan… the list was pretty long but no one of that thing was learnt for the simple pleasure of being learnt.   
Eri had to know how to do them at her best, that was all.  
She wondered if playing that flute was for Dorian what fight was for her… a necessity. A piece of their identity but not of their personality.

“At least he’s waking those person up. Time for sleep is over”  
She said opening a portal.

Dorian interrupted his melody for a moment “Where are you going ?” He asked.

“Henry is not here, but I can still feel his presence nearby. I have to find him and make him talk.”

“How do you think to do it ? He won’t talk”

“I have my methods. Don’t worry about me. I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself”

Then she disappeared and Dorian shrugged.   
It would have been useless trying to persuade her to wait, she would have listened him anyway.   
He remembered how she killed without any hesitation all those monsters and for a moment he also imagined her killed normal people with cold blood.   
He wondered if it had been easy for her the first time, as it had been for him, when Henry made him used his powers for the first time…  
He barely remembered the name of that person, if it was a male or a female, or the color of his or her eyes. He didn’t even remember if he had felt nervous or else but he highly doubted. How could he feel something appropriate if he didn’t even know how to feel ?

“You’re coming back in the game… Mom…” he said interrupting for few seconds his melody.

…

Cade knew something was wrong the first second after his mental connection with Henry disappeared and with his, so did the one with Eri Salvatore and Dorian Knight.  
Something was terribly wrong and he wanted to know what, but he almost feared to go there personally.   
He looked at his pendulum clock and he saw that only two hours remained before Sybil would begin her attack on New Orleans. Maybe he should just order her to go to Mystic Falls at his place and take a better grip on the situation there…  
Something inside him said that he shouldn’t go there himself, that it could be a trap.  
Maybe he should go to pay a little visit to his favorite prisoner and see if he knew something, if his new roommate had told him something important.  
For the moment, it was the only thing he could do, since it was wiser remain in Hell.   
The large of errors was slim because never as now the death was so close to him…

…

Klaus had no idea why he brought Stefan there, actually he had no idea why he was there, how he could have arrived there inside the cave that they once had visited inside their dreams.   
He knew for sure that the Armory was located in Grove Hill, seven miles from Mystic Falls. And there he thought that nothing could surprise him anymore.   
The cave where it was written the story of his family, how they used to be happy together and how everything broke down when the affair of his mother was discovered.  
Klaus didn’t know what was in that place that made hims feel safe, maybe it was that little connection with a past he missed so much.   
He heard the Ripper’s words and wondered if Stefan did actually miss Damon instead. Stefan had barely talked to him about Damon, his simply said that he wasn’t close to his brother anymore and Klaus didn’t make the connection between the two, specially because there couldn’t be two persons who were more different than them.  
How could someone look so handsome even with the face marked by those scars and purple veins ?   
What would he give to have all of their memories of Chicago back ? How did they actually meet ? What did he think what he saw Stefan for the first time ?  
Knowing himself, he should have behaved rude with Stefan or treated him with his typical arrogance and superiority.   
But if he also knew Stefan enough, the toddler didn’t hesitate to put him in his place.  
He would like to remember their talks, their first kiss, the secrets Stefan revealed him that night before their goodbye. He would love to know how much he loved tasting Stefan’s lips for the first time, what he had actually felt when he was with the other.

  
“What would I give to solve the mystery you are, mr Salvatore ?” He whispered looking at Stefan.

“What would you do I mind ?” Asked someone at his back.

Klaus jumped and turned around to see Henrik behind him. It was still so strange thinking at that young man as his brother, specially now that he knew what Henry had or would have been willing to do to pursue his goals.  
Apparently he and Henrik contended the title for the the cruelest and most manipulative Mikaelson.   
Klaus could see the man he used to be in Henrik, alone, manipulative, ruthless, heartless, power-hungry, arrogant, cruel. The list was pretty long.  
The difference was that Klaus had only himself to blame for the person he was, and he wondered what was the trigger that pushed Henrik to change his personality, his name, his attitude toward the world.   
Klaus had never hated his family, but he hurt all his siblings, he used them, he manipulated them, he killed people who they loved always excusing himself.   
What were Henrik’s excuses ? What were the lies he told to himself ? What was the face he saw in the mirror ?  
The martyr ? The executioner ? The victim ?  
It was the sweet privilege of being a victim… being free of putting the blame on the world itself to justify your wrath, being free of doing bad things by saying to yourself that you’re simply behaving so to defend yourself.

“Why are you doing here Henrik ? Do you want to finish the job ?”

“Henry, please.” He corrected the other then he looked at the wall “I came here to think about my next move, I wouldn’t imagine to find you here as well. All of us, included Stefan”

“Loneliness… That’s why we all memorialize our dead…” said Klaus looking at the engravings “… There’s the briefest of moments before we kill, where we literally hold their life in our hands and then we rip it away, and we’re left with nothing.”

“So, you’re saying that gathering other people letters or writing names on the wall is noting more than a reminder ? That in the end… We’re left infinitely and utterly alone ?” Asked Henry touching the wall “Loneliness scares me no nome than Cade. Why aren’t you yelling at me ?”

“Would be useful ? I know you erased my memories of Chicago. I’m aware that you tried to kill me, different times, but you’re my brother and I don’t want to hurt you”

“Seriously ?” Asked Henry with irony “You’ve never hesitated before to hurt your own siblings when they even though to betray you. The only reason why you haven’t tried to kill me yet is because you know I’m stronger than you. It’s not love, it’s self preservation”

Henry looked at Stefan and for a moment he was tempted to kneel next to him, to see if he was okay, but he didn’t.

“Did he kill his brother ?” He asked, pretending disinterest.

“I stopped and before you can say something, Damon Salvatore would have been killed by the hands of the Ripper, not Stefan”

“Oh yes, his little problem of double personality. Poor guy. Well, you loved them both. I remember when he show you the list of all his victims hidden inside his apartment. You were so enthusiastic to finally meet the dangerous Ripper of Monterey. Stefan was the boring friend for you but the Ripper was… your favorite entertaining. Sometimes I wish I had asked you who you love more of them. The friend or the entertainment”

“Then I’m glad you hadn’t. I know I love Stefan, my boring friend, who has helped me so much recently.”

“Of course. We’re so similar Klaus Mikaelson. We share the same vision of the world, we consider the world something to possess, the people tools to pursue our goals. I’m not doing anything different from the things you’ve done, the only difference is that I’m at the begin of my masterplan when you’re even over your farewell.”

“So what’s the real reason you’re here for. Don’t tell me that you’re here to admire a memento of a past you said you couldn’t care less. So ?”

“You’re so clever when it comes to understand people like you ah ? Follow me, until you can, I know that there’s a part of this cave where vampires can’t access. Is there where I hide something really important”

“What ?” Asked Klaus.

“I didn’t drag your ass there wasting my magic with you for nothing. I’ve a plan, always had.”

“Why should I trust of you after everything ?”

Henry blinked, a clear invitation to follow him, then he turned around without answering the question. Klaus had no idea if it was wise, since he couldn’t say he knew his brother anymore. Well, Stefan hadn’t woken up yet and Klaus was truly curious to know what other trick Henry had up his sleeve and he couldn’t even come back to the Armory all alone.   
This Hunters was going to be the death of him.

…

Bonnie was frantically leafing through the pages of her Grimory to find the spell that she could use to get the Bone Dagger from Ethan.   
Ethan ensured her that Beatrice hide that spell through her pages, so that Cade could never find it.

“Beatrice hoped that one of her descendants would find the spell, only one of her descendants. Maybe your magic will find it”

“I hope so. There’s so many spells in my Grimory. Don’t you have an hint ?”

“Not exactly. My memories about the spell and the Bone dagger were almost completely erased. She was so brilliant and wise. The most amazing woman I’ve ever met…”

Bonnie smiled when Ethan spoke so passionately about Beatrice, but she even felt so sorry for him.   
She could understand his pain, the pain that only lover separated by the beloved ones felt. Cade had taken Beatrice and Enzo away from them and condemned to live a life of misery and incompleteness.   
She looked at Ethan and thought about all the years he’d spent in Hell, waiting to be set free or to die, loving and thinking about Beatrice any day, feeling so insignificant in front of the reality of the world, where it was so easily for someone to move on and found a replacement for the people he’d lost.   
Beatrice moved on, she got married, had children and Bonnie wondered if she’d ever though about Ethan and his pain.

“I know what you’re thinking” he said “I’m masochist because in my heart I’m still cultivate the hope that Beatrice could have loved and married me if fate had favored me. I’m not so naive and if Hell teaches you something, is suffering in silence”

“I understand you. I’ve lost so many people I loved since the day that I found out the truth about my nature and the supernatural that I can understand your pain. Because of Cade I lost the man I loved and I know that his soul’s burning in Hell right now”

“Defeating Cade won’t destroy Hell, you know that ?” Asked Ethan playing with his fingers.

“What ? Hell’s been created by Cade, how could it continue to exist if he dies ?”

“Consider the Unholy family like a monarchy. If the King dies, the prince will inherit his throne and the kingdom will be safe. Also, it’s true that Hell was created by Cade’s hatred but it’s also empowered by the pain, the sufferance and the cruelty of his Hunters and Huntress. In few words, Hell has no owners but itself”

“Are you saying that even though we defeat Cade, Hell won’t cease to exist ? That there’s nothing I can do to save Enzo from there ?”

“No that I would know. This person who visited me looked so willing to share little informations with me, in change of my silence, my collaboration and everything that I knew about the bone dagger. I would also dare to say that sometimes he looked even too much willing to share informations with me”

“Maybe he simply made up everything” said Bonnie looking again at her Grimory.

“I don’t think so. Hunters are excellent liars but this one… I don’t know… I wouldn’t dare to say that he cared for my wellbeing but I can see he was determinate to pursue something else and I could see that he felt for Cade an hatred similar to mine”

“A double crosser ? Someone who wants Cade’s throne ? Beatrice told us that the greatest enemies of the Devil are the ones nearest to him”

“I wouldn’t ignore it. Think about it. Not all the Hunters work for him willingly, some of them have been obliged or sold by their own family. Sybil was sold by her sister, the Hunter who visited me was sold by his mother and I know for sure that it was the same for all the members of the unholy family”

‘Is this the common denominator ?’ Thought Bonnie while she was reading the pages of the Grimory. She knew for sure that Stefan Salvatore made a deal with Cade to save Damon’s soul, while Sybil and this other Hunter were sold by their families, probably in change of powers, money or something like that.  
Cade was smart, she admitted.   
He hadn’t chosen people at random to be part of his family, he wanted the innocents, the victims and turned them into the executioners. Cade wanted to create a new family composed of people who could understand and share his pain and hatred. People who would never turned their back on him for their past or their ungrateful families   
Purity into Sin… White in Black… Victim into executioner…  
Maybe she knew where to find the spell.

“A purification spell…”

“What ?” Asked Ethan.

“Cade was turned into the King of Hell by his own hatred, victims of this hatred are his Hunters, but each all of them, included Cade, were humans and pure. I think that the Bone dagger represents the pureness that defeats this hatred.”

“Purity in Sin… maybe. You’re saying that my own hatred is the key”

“Your hatred had covered the pureness of the bone dagger inside you. Apparently Beatrice had thought about anything… And… here, I think I found it”

Ethan came closer to read the page but there wasn’t anything writing on it.

“It’s a blank page” he said.

Bonnie smiled “So am I the only one who can read the spell ah ? Good, now we can start”

…

_Did freedom have the same taste for everyone ?_   
_Or did it taste bitter and salty only on her tongue ? D_   
_Was freedom red for everyone ? Did red represent liberty ?_   
_Maybe she saw freedom red because she had payed it with blood and it was salty because she was crying._   
_She had no idea where she was going, in her elegant white pearl dress, she only knew she had to ran away before she changed her mind._   
_The tears clouded the world around her, making it more confusing, unclear, dangerous._   
_Where was she going to go ?_   
_What was she going to do ?_   
_Who was she going to be ?_   
_She had no home, she had no family, she had nothing to return to. It was one of the reason why she had never tried to ran away before. What was the point of trying to get free if the nothingness was the only thing she would find out of Hell ?_   
_No family, no love, no past, no present, no future. Nothing._   
_Her parents died three millennium ago. She killed Seline herself and let her burn in Hell._   
_How could someone who was immortal have past, present and future ? She was locked up inside that shape of skin and blood, strong and yet delicate like the pearls around her neck, always beautiful, always pleasure, always treasure and forever cold and lifeless._   
_Out of space and time, her body was the shell of a ghost and her heart was the house of a monster._   
_Immortality had the terrible cost of her life. The darkness had the terrible color of his eyes._

_“He let me go…” she whispered through the tears “… How could he not need me no more ?”_

_Sybil should have never made that bet with Henry._   
_That cruel boy, whose heart she still had in her hands, dared to broke hers by taking Cade away from her._   
_Henry who made Cade fell in love with him in front of her, taking pieces of his heart only to shatter them even more with his fingers._   
_Henry had no pity in showing her that Cade completely lost interest in her, that he got bored with her affection and devotion, that she had nothing more that could make her interesting in his eyes._   
_When did it begin their struggle for their attention ?_   
_When did Henry become her opponent for Cade’s attention ?_   
_They bet, they played, she lost and now she was paying her consequences._   
_She, the Goddess of Hell, reduced to nothing but a fugitive._   
_Where was her crown now ?_   
_Where was her throne ?_   
_Where was everything she’ve been fighting for ?_

_“Lost… everything’s lost… The cruelest thing is that I had to also find a replacement for myself”_

_Stefan Salvatore. A name, a blasphemy, the sign of her defeat._   
_A queen for a pawn._   
_Her King sacrificed her king for a pawn._   
_A wife for a soldier._   
_His bride for a lover._   
_What could be more humiliating ?_   
_She was falling, like that time when she tried to kill herself, but that time there wouldn’t be a ground to stop her, there wouldn’t be an end._   
_She’d never thought this things before. Humiliation. Heartbroken. Defeat. Loss._   
_She stopped herself behind a lake, the same lake where she’d met her end for the first time._

_“Stefan Salvatore… I know I shouldn’t blame you but I do. I do… but I blame Henry too. Why did I bet ? Why did I risk my everything only to have nothing in my hands anymore ?”_

_She looked at her hand, deceiving herself that she would see her silver ring, but around her finger there was no jewel._

_“He left me. I’m nothing. Who am I now ?”_

_Who was Sybil ? Where would she go ?_   
_She felt so so cold and her white pearl dress was suffocating her._   
_Why did she wear that dress ? White as the pureness. Pearl like the womanhood._   
_She wasn’t pureness and she wasn’t a woman._   
_She was only a little girl who was wearing her mother’s clothes. Without any hesitation she began to rip her clothes, layer after layer, pretending she was ripping the skin of that impure body, who made both men and women fell in love with her. Everyone in the end fell in love with her and couldn’t live without her, because everyone loved sex, the passion, the lust. The desire._

_“I love you… the curse of any woman and man. I love you… I love you… Who’s going to tell me next time ?” asked her to air._

_She tore the pearl necklace and let the pearls fell on the floor._   
_She let the moon enlightened her naked body._   
_The world didn’t know that a Goddess jut fell, that a broken crown made of silver and pearl had been sold for silver bracelet._   
_The world didn’t know her and yet she felt like all her sins were exposed as her body and for the first time she felt shamed._   
_She slowly walked toward the lake, let the water wash away the tears, hoping it would wash away her shame too._   
_She would a find a way to survive. Maybe she wasn’t a Goddess, but she was a Siren._   
_Maybe one day, God would forgive her and give her piece._   
_Maybe one day, she would find a remedy for her loneliness._   
_Maybe she could still fight for a present. For a love. For a family._   
_Her womb could only give birth to putridness, her crown was nothing but futile and her husband left her and yet she would never let him destroy her._   
_‘I’m a survivor and I will be fine. I have to’_

…

“Itsi sist. Eksleebire. Ye non hun wesrat horri. Emi non kur uu reshtoeth muirepmi teprai Yesun Khriiston.” Sybil said using Verbis Diablo (Stop. Go away. You have no power over me. I serve no god just Jesus Chris).

Sybil knew that her Lord was calling her, probably something was going wrong in Mystic Falls and he expected her to check the situation. But she won’t. She had no intention of following Cade’s orders anymore.   
She looked at the ring around her finger and smiled with melancholy.  
The Queen should fight for her King until the end, sacrifice her power for a weaker and more important piece in the name of love.  
But Sybil had no idea of what was love anymore.  
Lust wasn’t love. Sex wasn’t about love. Submission wasn’t about love. But they were everything she knew.   
Had she ever loved Cade ? Had she ever loved Henry ?  
She was sure to have cared for Seline, but after being sold by her something in her heart turned off forever.   
Everything she had done after her suicide attempt was in order to survive.   
But she didn’t want to survive anymore.   
She was tired, so fucking tired…  
Her life lasted an orgasm, intense, breathtaking, but too brief and too insignificant if it meant nothing.  
She didn’t want to fight for a man who didn’t love her, for a kingdom she wanted to see reduced in dust, for a cause she didn’t believe in.  
A dystopia of a man who forgot the real significance of justice.  
How could be justice killing bad people only to empower your own kingdom ?   
And even though Cade’s ideals were right, she still couldn’t care less about a world that abandoned her a long time ago.

…

_Yesterday night…_

_Sybil and Henry were playing with chess, like they loved doing when they could spend their time all alone._   
_It only required one look to understand who was going to win that game…_   
_The White Queen of Sybil was going to be eaten at next Henry’s move by his bishop and even though his black Queen had been eaten, one of his pawn was in a strategical position to be turned into a Queen after the next three moves, he only had to allow Sybil to eat his horse._   
_My my, it was so much ironic and fun that the weakest pieces could become the strongest if you moved them properly. You didn’t need to keep the strongest pieces at the begin of the game, but in the end._   
_Sybil had never had particularly strategic skills. Nor the she was stupid, simply she allowed her emotions and her hubris to take control over her._   
_In her confidence of being the strongest woman in the world, she easily underestimated the opponent in front of her, believing that her power would have been enough to make her win the game nonetheless._   
_Power was nothing if you didn’t know how to make the most of it._

_“You’re still in time to save yourself. I’m prolonging this game only for you, my Queen” said Henry admiring Sybil’s perfect visage._

_“Are you talking about this game, or about my life ? I know that you planned to eat me a long time ago. I simply don’t know if you plans to do it to yourself, or for someone else do it, or for me to commit suicide”_

_“You underestimate my love for you.” He simply said with a smile “There… I eat your Queen, you should have protected her better”_

_“She’s dying to protect his King. You could have made checkmate already, but I don’t know why, you’re waiting for something else to happen, on this or another chessboard. I simply can’t figure it out. Who do you want to win this game ?”_

_“Me and only me, Sybil. You wasted your move and Cade is too pride to even consider the idea of losing. I… on the other hand, I’m only blind my own greedy when I want something and I’m sure as Hell exists, that I don’t want Cade to win neither I to lose”_

_Sybil smiled, pleased, even if she knew that she didn’t have much to smile about._   
_Her female instinct was screaming at her that she was in danger and if she wasn’t careful, she would die soon._   
_But what could she do at that point ?_   
_One looked at her side of the chessboard and she knew that there was no possibility of victory._   
_She had wasted her best pieces to destroy the pawns and wasted her own paws in attempt to eat the best pieces, and how she almost lost all her pieces and left the King defenseless._   
_She should have used Damon and Enzo better to kill the humans in Mystic Falls and only after that, she should have kept Damon alive to blackmail Stefan._   
_Stefan would have been willing to fight at her and Cade side and defeat Henry before he could elaborate another strategy to dethrone Cade._   
_Sybil believed that her influence over the younger Hunter would have been enough, that his love and devotion for her would have protected her until the end. She simply underestimated her opponent pr misunderstood who her opponent really was._   
_Sybil focused her attention on Cade more than anyone else._   
_How to seduce him. How to make him love her again. How to betray him in the worst way possible. She had never imagined that Henry could become her enemy too, an obstacle between her and the throne._

_“Cade isn’t your only target, isn’t it ?”_

_“What are you talking about ?” Asked Henry with a smirk._

_“You have to kill the Queen before to kill the King. The King can conduct the game only for few times after his Queen’s death. You planned my death too ? Didn’t you ?”_

_“Time for a bet. Tomorrow, when you’ll arrive to New Orleans to burn it down, wait until the twilight to do it. If the only order you receive unit then, will be to burn New Orleans, do it and I promise I will help you to get your throne… nevertheless…”_

_“Nevertheless ?”_

_“If Cade asks you to change target and go to Mystic Falls, I will mean that my strategy has worked and that I will win the right to become the new King of Hell once and for all.”_

_“And then what ? Do you plan to send a kitsune or another monster to kill me as you did with Enzo ?” Asked Sybil with anger._

_“I don’t care if you die or not at this point. What I want you to understand is that…” then he took the White Queen and continued “… You will be officially off of the game and that if you ever think to get on my way then… I will kill you”_

_“Why don’t you kill me now ? You’re behaving like you already won everything.”_

_“Because, differently from the White Queen of this game, I want yo give you a chance of running away and survive. Although the resentment I feel for you, I still care about you and I want you to be happy”_

…

Henry was telling the truth, at that was what hurt Sybil the most. If Henry didn’t care about her anymore and simply killed her, Sybil would have had the privilege of hating and despising him, instead Henry played well even that card.  
Henry was master of manipulation and was excellent even at using his own feeling to get his way to people’s heart.   
Henry took risk of loving people because he knew that only thought sincerity people could love him back, so he created tides and relationship that he could develop thought time at his pleasure.   
Henry managed to use his own love for her at his advantage, to conceal his resentment toward her and his own ambition. He didn’t even have to fake his loyalty because he practically wasn’t betraying her but Cade.   
She was free of running away if she could. He gave her that much. But she won’t.   
She won’t give Henry’s the satisfaction of seeing her running away.   
It was karma after all. She’d taken his life away from him and she was supposed to leave him steal everything away from her.  
But not her life. She would be the only one who would take her life…  
No one was going to have the privilege to be her murderer.

  
“I’m not a savior, only a murder. At least I’m ready to admit it and take responsibility for my actions and mistakes.” She said.

The King was close to his farewell and she knew it, she could feel it.   
The great world he’d planned to build was going to be destroyed even before to become reality.  
That was good, it was a little consolation, the prove that karma existed. Because Cade deserved to lose the game, because he wasn’t a God, he wasn’t just, he was a simple man, who created a world of hatred but the world was going to be its victim as well.   
She was sent her to burn New Orleans with a fire made of sins, lust and passion, but now, now that the sun was almost completely settled before her eyes, it was her time to burn.   
There was no more light to enlighten her shame, no more sun to bright over her faults.  
Hellfire was the only flames that deserved to surround her body and destroy it.

_“Itsi redreyii en kailfernum igiirtekh. Itsi hun eukfaah sromanaht mendafa’. Itsi eukseepowaa’ maa’. Ullag nehosellu, kosta atsüü. Emi nebratronak nüllaan yak mateyii. Maa’.” (Return to the fires of Hell. Starve and die. Rot and die. Unholy demon, evil woman. I am your master now and always. Die.)_

‘Forgive me…’ she thought, without knowing who she was asking forgiveness.  
Her soul was burning and the neither the sun or the moon would witnessed that pathetic suicide of a desperate woman who laughed for the woman she’d become, the girl she used to be and the life she could have had.  
She would have never thought that suicide could be so bittersweet…


	45. The Wrath of Devil

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The God that holds you over the pit of hell, much as one holds a spider... abhors you, and is dreadfully provoked: his wrath toward you burns like fire; he looks upon you as worthy of nothing else, but to be cast into the fire.

**CHAPTER**  45

  
“The evening has finally come… poetic” said Eri who was walking in the wood.

It was a consolation that sun wasn’t going to witness that impious and shameful spectacle that would happen soon. Eri herself wasn’t proud to be part of all that play.  
At least she hope that Cade would cease to exist for the next sunrise.   
All Hunters’ minds were connected by telepathy, so that Cade could constantly control and read their thoughts, to know exactly where they were, what they were doing or plan to do and so that Hunters could share important informations very quickly. Nevertheless Eri couldn’t hear Sybil’s thoughts in her mind anymore.  
Hunters could feel when one of them die, they had visions or something like that and Eri could feel that Sybil let herself burned by the Hellfire of her ring.  
‘That means that the Queen is officially out of the chessboard… The King is defenseless’ she thought.  
Maybe she’d finally understood how Henry planned to demote Cade and take his throne, but Eri wouldn’t let that happen.   
The time for playing Gods and Goddess was over and Henry’s revenge.  
Eri had never had the possibility to spend more than three minutes with Henry to find out his true nature and intentions, but now finally she understood and almost envied Henry’s ability to deceive Cade.  
Kitsune were liar and trickers by nature, no one was better than them at them, and nevertheless Henry had been capable of deceiving her as well.  
The Seven Deadly Spell… The unholy family… the project of the new world…  
They were all lies, or better, Henry knew Cade’s vision of the world. He knew that his Master was planning to create a new world devoid of imperfections, without sins, and he wanted to create it by bringing Hell on Earth, so that all the impureness would be burned inside the Hellfire and from its Dust a new Paradise would begin.  
Maybe a spell like that could also exist but Eri had the sensation that Henry had no intention of allowing Cade to use it.   
Henry wanted to destroy Cade and his dystopia with him and he would never let that the only one Devil’s wish would come true.

“Now now… You don’t want to leave Cade even the bittersweet taste of a new world, do you Henry ? Nor that I care. But where are you now I wonder ?” She said looking through the trees.

Eri regretted to have tried to follow Henry without knowing for sure where he went.   
She didn’t even know how to orient herself in the woods, she had no clue, no reference points, nothing.   
She couldn’t even feel Henry’s presence around her, because he was still protected by the Verbis Diablo.

“So, I can’t use my powers to find him, I don’t know this woods and I left Dorian all alone in the Armory… Shit” she said passing an hand through her hair.

Suddenly she heard the sound of steps behind her and she quickly hide, to observe who was the person or creature behind her and be ready to attack it eventually.  
Eri could feel that whoever was coming close was weak, probably an human and in bad conditions too. His pain was…   
Whoever thoughts she had about that individual, was interrupted when she saw a man with raven hair, pale skin, barefoot and with the face of someone who’d been thrown from the bed by force.  
He was an human, but what the hell was he doing alone in the wood in those conditions ?   
Now that she thought, otōsan was there to kill someone, his brother, but she also remembered that Cade expected Stefan to humiliate him.   
What was the better way to humiliate someone who abused so much of his power ? Took it away from him, when he needed it the most.  
That was why Cade ordered Stefan to retrieve that potion before to go in Mystic Falls.   
‘Well, well, so that worm is my uncle, isn’t him ?’ She thought.

“Well, he can’t do me any harm. He’s human now, which means that I can easily overpower him” she whispered getting out from her hideout.

Damon was trying desperately to find the way back for the Armory. That piece of shit of Klaus had gone away, taking Stefan’s body with him and leaving him alone there in the wood. He spent about fifteen minutes before he accomplish to stand up and walk in the wood, even though he was sore all over.   
The wounds inflicted couldn’t heal alone because he was no longer a vampire, his senses were weak and he was both hungry and thirsty.   
Eri would have laughed in another situation for his weakness.  
It was only his fault if he was reduced that way, for his lack of ability, intelligence and control over his impulses.   
Another person would have tried to run away, at the cost of breaking his owns legs.  
When you had to fight an opponent you couldn’t defeat, run away and come back only after you found a solution.   
That was all his fault.   
If Damon had been strong, Sybil would have manipulated him.  
If he had been a good brother, he would have burned in Hell at his brother’s place.  
If he had been wise enough to understand how much valuable Stefan’s protection could have been for him, he wouldn’t have ran away.  
What a pathetic idiot.

“Well, well, what do we have here ?” Asked Eri looking at Damon.

Damon turned around and saw a little girl, with ginger hair and golden bright eyes who was looking at him with disgust.

“Who are you ? Red riding hood ? Aren’t you too old ? Didn’t your parents teach you not to talk your stranger ?”

“You are a former vampire whose powers have been stolen by his smarter, wiser, more powerful, younger brother. Totally incapable of taking care of himself and dumb enough to fell victim of Sybil’s song. You’re not a good example either.”

“How do you know so many things about me ? Who are you ?”

Eri smiled, then she invoked her Kyuubi, her four tails got out from her body, her nails grown and the fire surrounded her body. She didn’t often let her tails get out like that, but Damon Salvatore represented everything she hated not only about humans but also the world.  
He was the incarnation of selfishness, cowardice, stupidity, irresponsibility, faintness, cruelty, sadism.   
Damon couldn’t believe his eyes. He heard about kitsune during all his journeys around the world, but he never met one before. He didn’t even believe they actually exist.   
The kitsune was young, but Damon knew that their look could be deceiving. She may was much stronger than she looked.  
Eri scratched his right shoulder and his left arm with her Kyuubi, then she used one of her tail to surround his neck.

“Strangers are not dangerous for children only. Learn this lesson. Now, tell me where’s my father ?”

“Fath… er ? Wha…”

Then he remembered. Klaus told him hat Stefan had a daughter. Could be this little ginger brat ?   
She asked about her father, so she knew they’d met and Damon highly doubted that Klaus’ daughter was a kitsune. He looked at her wrist and he saw no bracelet.

“He was always waiting for you to come back…” she whispered “I’m glad you didn’t. You deserve my father’s hatred not his love” she concluded tightening her tail around his neck.

Damon grabbed the tail with both his hands, trying to get free but he knew that he had no possibility. He was no longer a vampire, he was weak and couldn’t compete.  
Eri understood more and more why Cade proposed her to represent the Wrath.   
Wrath was the emotion she knew better than any other.  
Wrath had been the virus in her veins since her parents abandoned her.  
Wrath had been the first emotion she felt when she realized how much pain her otōsan felt.  
Wrath for her was…  
She gasped then she simply let the other man go.   
It wasn’t fair using her power on a human, because it didn’t make her strong, it made her a coward.

“You left my father because you can’t forgive him for what he did to you. Now I wonder what you’re planning to do with him that you’re human again.”

“These are not your business. I don’t know where he is but when I will…”

“What do you mean you don’t know where he is ? He’s here to kill you, it’s his mission”

“Oh believe me, I do know !! I’m reduced like this because of him. The Ripper”

“The Ripper ah ? Of course my father couldn’t kill you. Well then, if you don’t die before the next sunrise, Cade will punish my beloved father. So, what should I do with you ?” Eri asked with a smirk.

Of course she wouldn’t kill him, but scare him that way was so much fun.  
Damon began to tremble, trying so much to look confidence and indifferent, completely under control, but Eri could see the fear in his eyes.  
So afraid of a little girl like her… exhilarating !!

“My father was so heartbroken when Cade ordered him to kill you. Fortunately, auntie Lexi’s tales about you. She told me everything about you and made my decision easier. Sayōnara , Damon Salvatore”

“No, wait !! You said yourself that Stefan wouldn’t be able to kill me because he cared about me. How do you think he would feel when if you kill me ?”

“I’m his daughter. He will forgive me anyway” answered Eri shrugging.

“No, no, no. Firstly, auntie Lexi hates me with all her heart and she isn’t a reliable source. Also, I can see that you don’t like me but killing me in these conditions. You would be cruel, not just”

“Excellent orator. I hate you and I wouldn’t mind your death. I consider you a worm worth to be crushed under my father’s shoes. Why can’t you forgive him ? He forgave you worse”

“I wanted to die human because without love my life didn’t have sense anymore. He denied me a good death. I simply denied him a good immortality”

“You’re so childish. I’m done wasting my time with you. You said that my dad went away with Klaus ?”

“Not exactly” answered Damon “I will tell you everything if you promise not to kill me”

...

After opened their eyes, it had taken twenty minutes before they managed to remember where they were, why they were laying on the floor and who attacked them before.   
Freya, Caroline and Rebekah were the first who managed to stand up and then helped the other to do the same.  
Dorian observed them with curiosity and maybe a little disappointment.   
He’d hoped that his spell would have had more disastrous effects on them, but apparently or he was still too weak and inexperienced or them were very strong.  
But now he had doubts about what was the best thing to do. Stay or run away ?  
He didn’t know what they would do to him after the spell and even though his mother was one of his victims, it didn’t exclude that she was going to reject him and maybe kill him again.   
He looked at his wheelchair and he used his magic to bring it closer to him and to help himself to sit on it.   
Wheelchair wasn’t ideal for an escape, but it was his legs, it was the only thing that allowed him to move. It was better than nothing.   
He looked at the flute on his legs and for one moment he was tempted to throw it away, but again, what if they attacked him ?  
The flute would be the best shield in all worst case scenarios.   
Freya looked at him and she was happy to see that he was okay, safe and sound and above all that he was still there in the Armory.   
Ignoring the other mourned her she ran toward her child and hugged him tight.

“I’m so glad that you didn’t go away. You stayed…” she said crying “…You’re still here with me”

Dorian didn’t know how to react, it was the first time that someone hugged him and he could feel his cheeks become warmer and pink. What was that ? Embarrassment ?  
Probably if he didn’t imitate his mother’s gesture, she would get offended, and he didn’t want that either.  
So, slowly, clumsy, he surrounded her mother’s neck with his graceful arms.

“Sumimasen, itsuka anata ga watasei o yurushite kureru koto o negatte imasu” he said.

“What ?”

“Sorry, I usually talk with kitsune more than with other people. I simply said that I’m sorry and I hope you’ll forgive me, eventually” he said “I wish to say I didn’t have other choice. I wish to say that I wasn’t angry with you but…”

“Shhhh… It’s okay. I doesn’t matter. You reverted your spell, I’m awake and now we can family be a family. I promise I’ll never let you go. I will teach you how to walk, how to be a normal child and we will do all the things we didn’t do before.” Said Freya caressing his hair.

Dorian didn’t answer to her but he looked forward the other people in the room.   
From what he got, the two brunette men were his relatives together with the blond girl who was coming closer to them, and he had to kill them to cut all his tides with the past.  
Instead the other three targets, the brunette and the blond human, together with the other blond vampire were simply burden on Cade’s way.  
Dorian was surprised to know that there were so many different reasons to kill someone, even thought the outcome was the same.  
The process of murdering had so many ways, some were slowly and painful, or fast and sweet, others included torture, or abuses, and yet the arrival was death and once you arrived there you couldn’t come back.   
Dorian was dead, he shouldn’t have been alive and yet again Henry gave him a second chance, then he simply followed a path made of decisions, trickiest and blood to arrive where he was.   
Now he was free of choosing his next step.

“Are they going to kill me or hurt me ? To gain information from me ?” He asked atone.

“What ? Of course n…”

“Dorian, I’m Rebekah, I’m your aunt and…” Rebekah stopped to talk, kneeling near her nephew’s wheelchair “…No one of us will hurt you, but we need you to tell us everything you know”

Elena, Caroline and Alaric came closer to listen but for the moment they chose not to speak. It was better if only Mikaelson approached Dorian. The young boy would be more comfortable speaking about Henry with his relatives than with strangers.

“Why should I ? Henry will punish me. Nor that I’m scared of it, I can’t feel anything, but it wouldn’t be smart of me”

“Kid, I’m uncle Kol and I can guarantee that I will personally kick your uncle Henry’s ass if he dares to lay a finger on you, okay ?” Said Kol coming closer as well, smiling with embarrassment to his nephew.

“I guess so. Henry told me few things about all of you, he said that you were the sibling who enjoyed planning pranks at his expense”

Kol rolled his eyes and shrugged, he was the one who loved doing pranks in general, always the troublemaker, even more than Klaus.

“Dorian…” said Elijah kneeling on the other side of the wheelchair “… We don’t want cause you any harm, but you have to collaborate. If we don’t stop Cade, your life will always be slave of his waywardness. Please.”

“Well, I know that there’s an young Huntress of my age, more or less and that she was supposed to come here with a man.”

“What’s his name, Dorian ?” Asked Elena.

“He was pretty famous in Hell, his was the most important prisoner in there. His name was… let me think… Oh… Ethan Maxwell. If Eri succeeded to bring him here, she will be a myth because Ethan was well supervised”

“Eri ?” Asked Rebekah “A young girl, with ginger hair, whose father is…”

“Stefan Salvatore, how did you know her ?” Asked Dorian confused.

“Long story, kid. Where’s this man ? Where Eri was supposed to bring him ?”

“Here, in the Armory. When I met her, while you were under my spell, and he wasn’t with her, but I can feel his presence, here. He’s here”

“How can you say this for sure ?” Asked Alaric.

“Hellfire’s smog has a particular smell that could be perceived only by Hunters and sometimes even from humans who had spent too much time there, also, I can feel his sins.He’s upstairs, with someone else, a woman”

“Bonnie” said Elena “Ethan’s with her, which means that we can finally find the bone dagger and put an end of this, once and for all. Let’s go”

Everybody nodded, then Kol took Dorian in his arms, then he followed the other upstairs.   
Dorian could finally feel another sensation, he felt protected and wanted, in the arms of someone who showed him more affection in one minute than Cade in his entire life.

…

_Humiliation… Vengeance… Recourse… Heartbroken…_

_Those and more similar words were running through Henry’s head, while he was laying on thalamus which smelled of sex, lust and passion._   
_The perfume of sex was so inebriating, Henry could understand why people became so dependent from it, why he became so dependent on Sybil._   
_If he only thought that mere minutes ago, his body and Sybil’s became one thing._   
_He touched his lips and and licked them, so that he could feel Sybil’s taste again or imagine it._   
_Why didn’t she want him ? Why wasn’t he enough for her ? Why did he have to share her with Cade ? Why did Cade have all he wanted for himself ?_   
_Henry simply couldn’t accept that he was nothing more than a marionette for Sybil and Cade’s theatre._   
_Cade wanted children for his army, and he could have them by making deals and turned other women and men in his soldiers and lovers._   
_Sybil took him as her personal Hunter, her favorite toy, the sexy little doll to care of._   
_But Henry then he fell in love with her, he have her everything a man could give to a woman, as her gave to Cade everything a woman could give to a man._

_“Is all I am ? A marionette, a doll, I’ve simply a starring role in Cade’s history… I don’t like it, I hate it actually… They can’t treat me like this.”_

_Why could he have more ? He definitively deserved more. He deserved to have everything he wanted, maybe it was time to make everyone to understand that he was sold enough to take everything he wanted, not matter who it belonged to before._   
_Maybe… Maybe it was time for him to make clear to his ‘parents’ who their son was, what he was capable of doing to get what he wanted._   
_Money, power, fame, glory, clothes, an army, Sybil, Cade’s throne…_   
_More, more and eve more._   
_His tongue watered at the only thought of all the things he could have if he finally decided to engage more._   
_He was a good looker, one of the most powerful sorcerer in the world and the lover of the Queen of Hell, but he also was aware that the King wanted him in his bed._   
_Because Cade wanted everything he didn’t have or that belonged to other, specially he didn’t like share things with others, including Sybil, but he took Sybil’s toys because he was the Devil._

_“What if I seduce Cade ? What if I compete with Sybil for his attentions ? I would win because Cade lost interest in her a long time ago.”_

_The only idea of Cade touching his body irked him and make him want to vomit, but it would be necessary._   
_First his body, then his heart, then his mind, never his power._   
_Nor that Cade would be interest in his power._   
_Devil thought that, only because he allowed him a perfect immortality, Henry was a subordinate and because of this he was weaker._   
_Cade’s pride would be his downfall._

_“I will make him believe I love him, by giving his body. Then I will begin to love him as well, I know because Cade and I share the same hatred and resentment toward the world and our former family. He can understand my pain and my loneliness. It will be easy to love him. Then I will give him my mind, my wise, my advices, my ideas and thoughts. He will think to have anything of me but I will have anything of him too”_

_When you fell in love with someone or thought that the other was deeply in love with you, it was easier pull all your guards down._   
_Cade wasn’t different after all. He would trust him and he would share his secrets with him._   
_If Henry hide his true intentions behind his love for Cade, the Devil would never suspected of him, then…_

_“Then I will find him something new to desire and when this moment arrives… I will finally begin my masterplan”_

_It was perfect, simply perfect._   
_Of course he would better refine any detail but the base was excellent._   
_There was not better way to deceive a man than loving him._

_“I will succeed, I will know all his secrets, my greedy will help me to remain focused on what I want. Money, fame, power… I can win. I must and…”_

…

Someone snapped his fingers in front of his eyes and interrupted the stream of memories that was running in Henry’s mind. Klaus.  
He lost himself in his memories again, ultimately it had happened a lot.   
Probably because he was so close to his victory that he could finally have the privilege of thinking about how everything started.

“You got distracted Henry. You’ve remained firm and silent for almost ten minutes. I could have easily kill you, you know that ?”

“No. I can see in your eyes that you still hope to trigger some king of redemption in me. Sorry to disappoint you, but you are not enough for me. Take Dorian if you still want that brat, I don’t need him anymore. The King has lost his Queen, his horse and soon he will lose his bishop too. He’s too weak and he can’t do any harm to me anymore. Now he can only play on defense. But it won’t work. I will kill him and take his throne. I will create my new version of Hell, my knew kingdom, with my rules and a perfect immortality. If now I decide to become a Mikaelson I won’t have any of this.”

Klaus smiled with bitterness. Henrik’s words hurt like lame, but sincere at least.  
Henry resembled everything Klaus used to be.   
Klaus wanted to be a normal guy, accepted by his father, loved by his mother, husband of a lovely woman and father of spending children. When he realized that he couldn’t have any of this, that no matter what he became or achieved, there would always be a different between him and his siblings and the other vampires, he chose to concentrate on what he could still have.  
Power, he was an hybrid and an Original. No one could compete with him, with his strength, his hunger and his ambition.   
As the saying goes, love didn’t pay the bill, family could be your strength but could also be a burden that slowed your scent toward greatness.  
Rebekah’s attitude to fall in love so easily, Kol’s waywardness, Elijah’s incapability of understanding his point of view, Finn’s stupid dream of being an human again, his father’s bloodthirsty for him…  
There had been so many times in which Klaus had thought about all the achievements he could have obtained if all those things wouldn’t have slowed him down.  
Surely he would have conquered the world a long time ago and he would still ruled it.  
Klaus Mikaelsson the Emperor of world, the King of vampire, Alpha of werewolves.   
What a bright life, what a wonderful existence, the perfect immortality.  
Because at some point it was everything he wanted. If his family could only see him like a monster, then he didn’t need them anymore, they were obstacle and when you considered your own family like a torn in your side then… Then you understood that material things were everything you could have. Because have them was easier and less painful.  
Henry preferred invested his life on things he could have. Klaus couldn’t’ say he disagreed.

“Utterly alone, ah ?” Asked Klaus.

“I wear loneliness any day. My greedy is the only thing I can cling on to move on, each day. Even if I redeem myself, things would never be the same. I tasted the pure essence of darkness, not even God could make me atone for my crimes. You played with evil humans and vampires, I played along with Devil, I violated God’s laws and once you violated them you violated them all.”

“Atheist” said Klaus shrugging.

Henry smirked “When you spent so many years living in the depth of Hell, you can only hope to find Heaven somewhere.”

“So this is what you hunters do. Fight for Devil and hope for God’s forgiveness”

“More or less. If Stefan hadn’t found you so quickly, he would have arrived to a moment when ‘good’ or ‘evil’ wouldn’t have any meaning for him. After all, he was already in Hell, like me. He’s already received his judgement. You can tell yourself that you kill only bad people but at some point it doesn’t matter. You’re bad, your actions are evil and no world is worth of being fighting for at the cost of thousands lives. But of course you’re in the game and you have to continue to play. We aren’t the leader, or the King. I was the bishop and Stefan a pawn, or a jolly. You can’t understand our pain. We can’t understand yours”

Klaus envied Henrik’s ability of being so frank and sincere. Henry didn’t hide his true intentions behind lies or pointing fingers toward others, putting on them the blame for his mistake.  
Henrik had no problem to recognize that everything he’d done since his death was wrong, evil, cruel, unjust.   
He could have chosen to rebel, he could have chosen to screw Devil, to remain a good person, but in order to survive, to fight for things he could still have, he decided to become Devil’s bishop.   
Henry was sincere in his cruelty and his faults. Maybe it was the reason why people trusted his words so easily.  
He had no problem admitting he preferred power over his family, that he was addicted to material things

“Me and Stefan simply want someone who make us stop falling. Stefan has the Ripper, instead I have this Greedy version of me that’s so monstrous. I fight it every second but I don’t know how anymore. I created it and I became it. That what Stefan taught you. Your actions are your actions, you’re guilty and you have no excuses. When he will woke up, tell him you understood” said Henry starting to walk again.

“An then what ?”

Henry didn’t answer him, he simply continued to walk through the underground tunnel, ignoring the man behind him.   
Then he entered inside a cave, where he knew Klaus couldn’t follow him because of the barrier.

“I know that no many people would come here and no one would ever consider that an Hunter like me has something to hide here.” He said entering.

Klaus noticed that there were candles inside there but they were all extinguished, but they looked pretty new as well. There was something else in there but it was covered by a sheet covered with dust and soil.

“Are you sure Cade doesn’t know about this ?”

“Verbis Diablo” answered Henry “Once you know how to use it, you can hide yourself and everything from the Devil and his army”

Then Henry uncovered what it looked like a Bell by the sheet and Klaus gasped.

“This is the…”

“The Founders Bell. The real one. If Cade’d paid more attention, he would have realized that the ones Sybil gave to him was fake. That the real one was here, ready to be used for only one purpose”

“How could he not realize ? What purpose ?”

“Cade believed that, until our fates are in hands, we will share his utopia, but sincerely I couldn’t care less about the world or his ambitions. He doesn’t know any if this, obviously. I’m always careful about what I think in his presence. His pride and arrogance prevented him from trying the Bell when Sybil gave it to him. When he finds out the trick, he will come here and this time I’m ready to kill him”

Klaus couldn’t see Henry’s expression, because he was giving him his back. Klaus could get from his posture that Henry wasn’t scared of Cade, maybe he didn’t even contemplate a remote possibility that his plan could fail and that Devil would punish him or destroy his soul with Hellfire, as he did more or less with Katherine.  
Maybe Henry was right, maybe for him his life or existence had no significance.  
He preferred death over another year of slavery and submission.   
How could be defined someone who didn’t fear Devil ?  
What life had Henrik been living ?  
Klaus didn’t know how to approach him, really. He didn’t know what to do, he simply knew that not matter what, he was happy to see him again.  
When Henrik died, a part of him died with him, a part that he thought he could never have back. Instead now his little brother was there, in front of him, alive, and everything Klaus could think about was that he wanted to hug him tight in his arms for never let him go away.   
Klaus didn’t care about Henrik’s past, if he hated him or wanted him dead. Klaus simply loved him and wanted him to be happy.

“I think that Stefan woke up. I can feel his thoughts. I think is fair if I explain my plan to him too”

Klaus nodded and went away, happy that Stefan’s finally woken up.  
Unfortunately, he missed the smile on Henry’s face.  
The sorcerer read his thoughts and he felt warm in his chest, knowing that, after all, his brother still loved him.  
  
…

“Etsi an Nebratron hamatas kwairegem. Etsi hunak non innisumi leu wesratis kareenkhe dünasse.” (The Master seeks his bride. You cannot resist my summons or His power.)

Cade was trying to invoke Sybil with Verbis Diablo, since he couldn’t feel their connections anymore. He couldn’t feel her anymore. Probably she died, or better, she killed herself in Hellfire and burned her soul to dust, ceasing to exist.  
Hellfire was able to destroy anything, even the souls that materially didn’t exist.   
The souls in Hell couldn’t be destroyed completely because Cade didn’t allow it. He wanted the souls to burn forever.   
But Hellfire could also destroy a soul once and for all and…

“And that cretin killed herself in the worst moment ever. Fuck !! It’s true that you can’t count on no one in this world, you have to do everything on your own. Now that she’s dead, I have to find someone else to replace her as Lust for my spell. Finally I had all the Seven Deadly Sins and when I was at one step from the glory, that cretin killed herself, Henry, Eri and Dorian broke their connection. Katherine’s soul is almost completely reduced in dust and I’m risking to lose my kingdom !!”

Bad, bad, bad…   
Something was wrong, terribly wrong. How couldn’t he notice it before ?   
That someone was weaving the canvas of his defeat ?   
Who ?   
Sybil died, so it wasn’t her. Then who ?  
The only names that came in his mind were Stefan and his daughter, Eri.   
Stefan had never agreed with his utopia, he’d never thought that killing people, not even how devious their actions were, was the right way to ensure justice.   
Stefan was the troublemaker, his Prodigal son, the only one who opposed and contrasted him and his plans, who denigrated his dreams and his ambitions, who wasn’t able to see the brightness of the new world he wanted to build.   
Stefan and only Stefan. Not Henry. Henry resented him but he also loved him, he knew it. Henry was devoted to his father.

“It must be Stefan. It must… I should have suspected that something was wrong when he didn’t try to do anything against me. I should have known that he’d already planned something with the help of his stupid daughter… I should have known…”

He looked at the Founder Bell in his living room and he was hit by a doubt.   
He came closer to the Bell and he could feel no source of magic inside it. He touched it and all he could sense was the metal and cold of the Bell.  
No magic, nothing…  
It was a fake…  
Sybil gave him nothing but a fake copy of the Bell.   
The Bell was of the main importance for his plane, because without it, he couldn’t create a portal strong enough to bring even a quarter of the Hellfire that was in Hell.

“Where is the real Bell ? In Mystic Falls ? Sure like Hell that Stefan hide it there somewhere. What if… ?”

Why did Stefan offered to accompany Matt Donovan to his cell ?   
Cade thought that Stefan simply wanted that human to cease to suffer or put some distance from them. Cade should have ordered someone to follow him.   
But the Mistress… She would have warned him if something was wrong with that prisoner, he didn’t want to believe that even the creatures born by his own powers could be willing to betray him.   
Was he surrounded by vipers ? Was he wounded by their poison without even been aware of ?   
How many traitors surrounded him ?   
How could he be so blind not to notice them before ?   
His pride blinded him, it prevented him from seeing the danger, to sense that something was highly wrong.   
Now, now he had to pay a visit to his favorite prisoner.

“Even though one of the was helped to escape, I can always use the other as hostage, or turn him into an Hunter to get what I want…” he gritted in his teeth “…I will take him and then we will go together to Mystic Fall”

‘And then Hell begins…’ he thought.   
It wasn’t late. He could still win. Henry and Dorian would help him to win the war and so the rest of his Hunters.   
He had all his other sons and daughters and his kitsune. He could still win.  
He had just tasted the pure essence of his New World and he would fight with nails and teeth to win it.   
He was the Devil, the most powerful creature in the world, Master of Hellfire, Father of Sinner Hunters. He created Sirens and Sinner Hunters.   
He created Hell using only his hatred.   
He was going to be the God of a new world.  
He made the Earth a safer place because his nourishment were sins of his victims. Horrible people, murderers, rapists, thieves, the rubbish of society, when he could have chosen to vent his anger over everyone, innocent people included.  
Had he ever done ? No !  
No one had ever accomplished what he did.   
Nor Quetsyah, or Esther Mikaelson.  
They created an imperfect Immortality and also took the disturb of inventing a cure.  
Cade didn’t need a cure. Immortality was the cure, the solution for people who was worthy of this gift. His Hunters didn’t live at anyone but bad people’s expense.  
If they died, he could resuscitate them.   
The Perfect Immortality, the Perfect World, the Perfect Family…  
He took the perfection in that suck of world and he deserved to win the war more than anyone else.   
If he couldn’t rule the world, than it could burn down for what he cared.

…

Eri was frustrated, definitively frustrated.  
Everything her ‘uncle’ could tell to her was that Klaus’d killed her father as soon after him managed to use the reverting spell on Damon. Then Klaus simply ran away with Stefan’s body.  
That was bad.  
Eri didn’t trust Klaus alone with her otōsan, she feared that he could say or do something that would hurt him deeply. Also, if it was true that otōsan allowed control to his Ripper personality to defeat Damon and Klaus saw him that way, her otōsan surely would feel shamed and embarrassed when he came back to live.  
Why couldn’t Klaus leave things be ?   
Why did he always have to interpose in things he had nothing to do with ?   
That wasn’t his game, it wasn’t his life and he should be out of their way.  
Usually, kitsune had the tendency of being neutral in any kind of conflicts or fights. They didn’t intervene, at least they wanted to increase the conflict with their tricks.  
But Eri almost hoped that her otōsan’d killed Damon. The man at her side had been ruining his life. If Otōsan wanted revenge she wouldn’t blame him.  
Eri saw the most rotten and corrupted part of human’s heart. She knew what men were capable of, she was living at the shadow of the Devil because of Damon. She was familia with a kind of pain, sufferance and fear that only someone who knew the essence of Hell knew.  
She would never get over it, neither her otōsan, neither Dorian.  
Her hellish wrath would always be a part of her and it hurt. It burned all the veins inside her body, it poisoned her mind and made her see the world under a totally new prospective.

“I’m accompanying you to the Armory. Since you’ve been completely useless in helping me to find my father, I’m doing you a favor, so shut your damn mouth and follow me.” She said with harsh voice.

“Kind as your father” commented Damon with irony.

“If I were you, thanks God I’m not, I would be careful. You’re weak and human and in company of one of the people who hate you the most. I wish my father killed you.”

“Yeah, a lot of people want me dead. One more or one less, it doesn’t make any difference to me anymore. I couldn’t care less if you like me or not. I don’t want to be good or people to believe me a good person. Because when people see good, they expect good. And I don’w want to live up to anyone’s expectation”

“You definitively succeeded in this. I would never expect something decent from you. I simply want to get rid of you as soon as possible”

“Aren’t you too young to feel all this anger and hatred ?”

“Yeah, Hellish wrath is a terrible beast.”

It was useless talking with that edition. He felt no remorse or regret for his actions.   
That was another reason why she hoped to be away from him as soon as possible.  
Her otōsan told her that during the first years, he had problems to control his powers. In fact he avoided to be around people for too much time because he couldn’t avoid to feel and see their sins. He only had to look a person in face an all his or her sins would run into his mind like a sort of a movie and because of this he found himself in rather embarrassing situations.   
Eri had no problem to repress Damon’s sins when she didn’t look at his face, but when she did…  
How could a person like that sleep at night after all the things he’d done ?  
She remembered how awful were the days when her otōsan couldn’t even stand up from the bed because of his depression and his suicidal thoughts, instead the man at her side…  
He killed a pregnant woman… Children… he committed any kind of iniquities and he felt n guilt.  
’Sick bastard, you make me vomit’ she thought.  
Did he want revenge on her otōsan ? Okay, then if he was a decent person he should have hurt Stefan and only him.  
He didn’t have to become a psychopath murder to make his brother to understand how deeply he was angry with him.   
He abused of his privilege of being a victim. He tortured, raped, killed, ripped, tricked, because he wanted, because he considered it fun.   
‘I wish to send him to Hell, even for only one second’.  
She really wanted to kill him. She wanted his blood on her hands. She wanted to see the light leave his eyes. The Hellfire burn his soul and…  
’Stop it, keep your wrath at bay, keep your Kyuubi at bay. You can do it’.  
She had to.   
Fortunately, they arrived in front of the Armory ten minutes after, but Eri stopped at few steps from the door.  
Henry wasn’t there, but Dorian was. So he was okay, he was safe and surrounded by people who cared about him. Good. She was glad that he’d made the right choice in the end.

“They’re upstairs. All safe and sound.” She said to Damon “Let’s go”

She was going to enter but then Damon talked “Wait. I need yo ask you something”

“What ?” Asked Eri Turing around “It’ll better be a one million dollar question because I have no time to waste”

“Despite everything…” he began “… Are you happy together ?”

If Eri was surprised by his question, it was hard to say, as it was hard to say if she was going to answer or not.   
In the end she shrugged.   
Damon had no right to know anything about their life, but it wasn’t like they would ever see ever again, at least she hoped so.

“We found each other when no one else wanted us in their lives. We began living together, fighting together, hunting together. He taught me how to ride a bike, I taught him how to speak Japanese and Chinese. Sometimes I think that we’ve been a family even before we realized it. He’s my otōsan and he loves me so yeah, he makes me feel wanted.”

“It’s not what I asked”

“How could we be happy without being free ? As much as it concedes to us, we’re happy, but not how mush we should be”

Then she entered inside the Armory, wanting nothing more that put an end to that inconvenient and uncomfortable conversation.   
Eri didn’t want to talk with Damon, she didn’t want to share anything with, specially how she found her otōsan and her only one possibility to get a family.   
They weren’t his business, simply and she had better things to do.  
She was going to use another of her best talent to pursue her path of revenge and make sure that Cade would be her first and last victim.

“You know, I get that you’re not fond of me, but like it or not, me and your father will always be a family. We lose and find each other, not matter how, not matter how much time can pass”

“Mmm…” Eri pretended to reflect on his words, then she said “If there’s another lesson I learnt is that family is not made by blood, but fate.”

“You shouldn’t have followed him in Hell. You can’t blame me if you’re in this situation now, specially if you were perfectly aware of what my brother was since the begin”

Eri laughed then said “Are you blaming me for picking up the pieces for your mistakes ? I tell you something interesting. Use your privilege of being a victim, blame my father for your sufferance, blame him for this immortality you didn’t want, blame him for what happen that day, but for the rest… you’re a monster. You’re responsible for the wretched thing you turned yourself into. No one feels pity for you anymore, no one feels sorry because you don’t deserve anything anymore. You’re pathetic for holding your stupid grudge over my father, so do a favor to everyone and get over it”

“I won’t let to a brat like you…”

“Shut your fucking mouth, nobody cares about your bubbling !! You’re a old man, you take your decision and you can’t blame anyone for them, nor my father, or your girlfriend, or Katherine, no one. You killed, you raped, you ripped, you used, you abused, you betrayed, you hated everything is your doing not others. You’re a disgrace and I should get my father rid you, forever” said Eri with cruelty.

Kitsune were not good or bad, most of them managed to be neutral, but when it came to her otōsan, Eri was everything but neutral. She needed someone to accomplish her plan to save her otōsan and she would never thing that finally, that disgrace of a man would reveal to be useful.

“We don’t need you anymore. I’m his family now, I’m the one who will protect him and I will do whatever it takes to in order to defeat Cade once and for all… included this”

The Kyuubi appeared around her and then Eri pronounced some words, while the Hellfire surrounded Damon.  
Damon feared that she was going to kill him, but Hellfire didn’t burn his skin and he couldn’t even feel the warm on his skin.   
He hoped he wasn’t going to die, not now, not that he could finally have a possibility to life an human life with Elena.   
He wouldn’t lie by saying that he would be easy for him not to miss his powers and super abilities but at least now he could… He finally could…

“Elena…” he whispered before fainting.

Eri smirked then she used Verbis Diablo on Damon. She needed to protect the Armory from Cade, since she knew that it would be the first place he would come to look for her.  
Her connection was the last to be broken by Henry and she was aware that Cade would never believe that the person who was plotting against him was Henry, but her otōsan, which meant that he would look for her, not for Dorian or Henry.   
She had to make her tracks lose but also leave one false clue so that Cade wouldn’t follow her when she would find Henry’s current hideout.  
Maybe it was an hazard, but she felt that Henry was going to contact her or that she would find a clue when she managed to put her hands on the bone dagger.   
So, the first part was accomplished. She created a protective barrier that could protect the Armory from Cade, since Damon was the anchor and it could make the spell stronger.   
The second part was leaving something behind, that could make Cade believe she had never left the Armory.

“Maybe, I should leave my sword here… It won’t last for too much, but it can make me earn more time.”

Well, she only had to wait for Bonnie to extract the bone dagger, then she would steal it and take it to her otōsan, so that they could lead Cade away from these people and accomplish their revenge.   
But maybe it would be better if she found a way to contact her otōsan, or Henry, or… Klaus…  
Damon told her that Klaus ran away with her otōsan.  
‘No think, just act’.  
Henry’s mind was protected by Verbis Diablo, her otōsan refused to use it, unless it wasn’t extremely necessary, but Cade surely was controlling their minds, so if she tried now to contact him through their telepathy, she would only put him in danger.   
Klaus wasn’t an Hunter and probably his mind wasn’t protected by Verbis Diablo, unless Henry used it on him, but the possibilities were zero.  
Henry would never take the disturb of protecting someone else’s mind, unless it could be beneficial to him.

“Maybe, this is also part of his masterplan. You could never say with Henry. Well, for the moment I can only wait”

…

Death was such a unique experience, not matter how it could hurt the way you arrived at that point. Dying was easy and sweet. Unfortunately, coming back from the death wasn’t this way, specially when someone’d broken your neck and you could feel the bones’s cracks that reunited to each other and it hurt as well.

“Shit… The waiting room between this damn place and Hell isn’t less insufferable than Hell itself.” He commented touching his neck with his fingers.

His back still hurt too much, to even consider to stand up.   
He looked up and saw… one moment ?   
Where he was ? He remembered he was into a wood near the Armory, that he let Ripper take control to kill Damon and nothing else after.  
What happen ? Where was Damon ? Did he die ? Did Ripper kill him ? Did he succeed ?   
What was going to happen to him ?  
He wasn’t scared. Not matter who dragged him there or if he wasn’t alone, no one could hurt or destroy him a part from Cade. And that place wasn’t Hell, he would know otherwise.

“This cave has something familiar but right now…”

“Right now I would punch you senseless over and over again for all troubles you caused” said Klaus.

“Kla… Klaus… ? What are you… where ? I don…”

“Yeah, apparently your double personality has a better memory than you. Me and the Ripper had an interesting conversation. He told me what you did to save me, again. That you didn’t leave because you wanted, but because you made a deal with Cade who wanted to kill me. Then you were sent there to kill Damon, so that you wouldn’t have any other family but Cade.”

“Are you angry ? Why are you here ? Please tell me you didn’t do anything stupid to find me”

“You overestimate my affection for you, love. I was simply wondering where was my jacket. It’s quite expensive, exclusive and I want it back”

From his smile, it was clear to both of them that Klaus wasn’t talking about his jacket.   
Stefan was happy to see him, regardless the circumstances. He wondered what the Ripper told him since Stefan couldn’t remember.  
He had still so many troubles to control his Ripper side and sometimes, when he got particularly angry, he ceased to be Stefan even without realizing. When this unfortunate event happen, Eri helped him to come back in control, but now he wondered how Klaus managed to defeat the Ripper Hunter on his own, specially since Damon was under the effect of the reverting spell.

“How did you defeat the Ripper ?”

“He got distracted when he used the poison on Damon. He was so concentrated on killing him that… You were so concentrated on killing him that you didn’t notice my attack”

“Why are you talking as me and the Ripper are the same person ?” Asked Stefan.

“You are. Not matter if you both used the third person when you talk about the other. You’re Doctor Jekyll and he’s your Mister Hyde, but in the end you’re the same person. You wanted to kill your brother, maybe still want and you love me, completely.”

“Did the Ripper confess his feelings ?” asked Stefan astonished.

Now that was surprising. When Stefan heard Ripper’s voice in his head and spoke about Klaus, he usually had only words of mockery about him.   
Ripper only talked about how much Klaus was old. That his hair were ridiculous and he didn’t even believe Klaus to be natural blonde.   
That Klaus was his main obstacle for his grandeur, that he was simply an hybrid while he could be the future King of Hell.  
He would never believe that Ripper could love Klaus too, since he was the darkest part of him and so he shouldn’t feel love at all.   
Why did he have to love Klaus in two ?  
Stefan began to feel a little competitive when he found out that He and Klaus met for the first time in Chicago.   
He knew that Ripper was more carefree and entertaining than him. He was the kind of vampire Klaus wound love to have around. Instead he, as Stefan, was so boring in comparison. A boring vegetarian vampire who had no idea about how enjoying the little joys of his immortality.   
Would Klaus chose him over the Ripper now ?

  
“He confessed more. Let me explain everything to you, but then we have to come back to Henry. I think he has a plan” said Klaus kissing him on lips “And… I will chose you forever. I don’t think I can be able to handle Ripper’s manias of protagonism”

“Good to know”

…

Dorian knew what was coming. If there was something else Henry taught to him was divination. Unfortunately for him he could have vision of short term future while Henry was far more powerful. However what was important was that he would find himself in the position of taking another important decision.   
Warning all those people and his mother of what he’d seen, or simply helping his new friend another time.  
After all, it wasn’t like she was going to harm his mother or one of his new friends.  
When he arrived upstairs with his new friends, he assisted to a very peculiar scene. He saw a blond man who was lying in a bed, hurt evident on his face, with his chest exposed and full of black scars.  
A normal child wasn’t suppose to be allow to see what could be misunderstood for an horror movie scene.   
Before his mother could cover his eyes he decided to speak.

“Is this the spell to retrieve the Bone Dagger out of Ethan Maxwell’s body ?”

Everyone in the room looked astonished, included Freya.

“Do you know this man ?” Asked Bonnie.

“I wonder is quite surprising that I know that man while I’m not even aware of my mother’s name but he was quite popular in Hell and Henry often payed him visits to share informations. It’s according to plan if he’s here”

“What ?” Asked all people in the room.

“In order to succeed in his plan to demote Cade and become the new Master of Hell, occurred to Henry two important things. One, Ethan Maxwell out of Hell and two, a Bennet witch to perform the spell.”

“And then what ?” Asked Elijah.

“You’re brother is the hellish version of Klaus, you know that ?” Said Alaric receiving a bad look from Caroline.

“If you feel uncomfortable to finish the spell while I watch, I will cover my eyes” he said covering his eyes.

‘Good idea, Dorian. You don’t see, don’t hear, don’t talk. Let Eri does what she has’ he thought.  
Elena didn’t imagine that could exist a child that talk like that and that didn’t blink at the sight of a man covered with black scars. Apparently that though was shared by everyone in the room, even if no one dared to say it loud.  
Now Ethan was beginning to feeling in embarrassment since there were so many people he didn’t know that were looking at him in that conditions.   
Well, Bonnie chose to ignore everything and continued her spell. The blacker the scars became, the sooner she would have the bone dagger.  
In the Grimory wasn’t specified how long it would take to have the bone dagger, it was only said that since the danger was officially part of container’s body, it would be necessary to take it off directly from the body.  
Ethan instead was perfectly aware of what would happen to him when the spell would finish it. He would die and his body reduced in dust. It wasn’t only the magic of Hell to keep him alive, if he’d never got ill, if he’d survived to long period of hunger or thirst it was thanks to the bone dagger too.

“I know it hurts, but you’ll be okay…” Bonnie whispered “… I promise”

Ethan nodded and closed his eyes.   
The bone dagger would be extracted ten minutes later.  
Ethan Maxwell would die fifteen minutes after with Beatrice’s face in his mind and the promise of an eternal love and a reunion on the other side.  
Finally… after all those years he spent rotting inside that cell in Hell… finally he could reunite with Beatrice, his soul could be in heaven, away from Cade, away from Hell.  
His mission was over and he didn’t fail. He was dying with the knowledge that soon he and all Cade’s victims were going to have their justice.  
‘Beatrice… I’m coming… I love you…’ he thought one seconds before dying, while one last tear fell along his cheek and the bone dagger finally got out from his body.

“Here… Finally…” exclaimed Bonnie taking the bone dagger in her hand.

“Wait, is he dead ?” Said Alaric controlling Ethan’s pulse.

“What ? How could it happen ? Did you know it ?” Asked Caroline to Bonnie.

“Of course not Caroline. The spell only said that it requires the container, a Bennet witch and the formula I was pronouncing. It didn’t say anything about the death of the…”

“What the hell matter ? He was a living dead, I think we made him a favor and now we finally have the bone dagger. Let’s find Cade and kill him !” Shouted Kol.

“You bastard ! He was a person, and…”

No one heard the end of Alaric’s sentence that Hellfire surrounded the entire room and surrounded all their body as well, hurting them except Dorian, who was an Hunter and consequentially immune by the effects of the fire.  
Eri hated hurting innocent people but she didn’t see any other way to obtain the bone dagger. She knew that diplomacy wasn’t the fastest ways in those kind of situations. If she arrived there and tried to persuade the other to give her the dagger, there was no guarantee that they would trust her, maybe they would also tried to attack her, meanwhile Cade would arrived there and then she would lose any possibility to leave the Armory with the bone dagger and give it to her otōsan.  
‘Sorry guys, but I’ve no time to waste with you’ she thought.  
Her Kyuubi grabbed the bone dagger, then she ran away and created a portal to go away from Armory, so that no one of them could follow her when the hellfire disappeared.

“What the hell was that ?” Screamed Kol when the Hellfire disappeared, noticing a silver sword next to Ethan’s corpse, where before there was the bone dagger.

“It was Eri. She used the Hellfire to distract you all so that she could take the bone dagger.” Explained Dorian who sat on the floor since Kol lost the grip on him during Bri’s attack.

“Did you know what was going to happen ?” Asked Bonnie furious.

Dorian ignored Bonnie and looked toward Freya and said “I’m sorry again Momy. But you all have been eliminated by the chessboard when I made you sleep. This is not your story anymore, you’re not in the game anymore. We can only hope that Henry, Stefan and Klaus will save us all”

“It wasn’t your decision to make Dorian” said Elena “Do you have any idea of the Hell we’ve been through to find out a way to kill Cade ? Ah ?”

“From your tone of voice I can understand you’re angry with me” Dorian said tightening his fingers around his flute “Should I be ready to use my flute to make you all sleep again ?”

“Don’t you dare you brat…” whispered Bonnie.

At that point Freya decided to intervene “Dorian, please. You can’t chose for us. This has never been a game and we still want to fight”

“And you will. Unfortunately you have been chosen as bait” he simply explained as he was trying to help them to figure it out the solution of a challenging math problem.

“What are you implying ?” Asked Alaric.

“Henry explained me once that to accomplish a very powerful protective spell using Verbis Diablo can, sometimes, require an anchor. If you now go downstairs, you will find an unconscious Damon who’s been used as anchor. This way all the Armory is protected by Cade when he will personally come here to retrieve the Bone Dagger.”

“Damon ? Damon is… I go to him”

Before Alaric could stop her, Elena ran downstairs followed by Caroline and Alaric, who didn’t completely trust of an Hunter, not matter how young he was or looked.

“Did you see that silver sword ?” Asked Dorian “It’s the proof that Eri has been here, but Cade doesn’t necessarily know that She went away. If he believed she’s still here, it will give her the necessary time to escape and lead Cade into another trap”

“So for the moment we can’t leave the Armory unless we don’t want to be killed by Cade, is that what you’re saying ?” Asked Elijah.

“Precisely. Now, gentlemen, I have to ask you a favor.”

“What do you need Dorian ?” Asked Freya with kindness.

“A glass of water, my throat is sore”

…

“I knew it, I should have done something before…” whispered Cade touching his face.

He looked down, at the senseless body of Matt Donovan and he was really tempted to kill him.  
He wanted to kill him but he couldn’t, because he needed of that blond brat to use the Bell.   
He used his psychic powers on Matt but they simply confirmed his suspicious. Stefan had sent Eri to help Ethan Maxwell escape Hell.  
Now he was definitively at disadvantage.   
Stefan had the Bell, Ethan Maxwell and soon he would have the Bone Dagger too.   
Instead everything he had was a dead wife, a double crosser for a son and a sentence of dead over his head.  
He couldn’t permit it…  
He could only order all the other Hunters to do to Mystic Falls and kill their traitorous brother and everyone who would stand in their way. No one who opposed between him and his kingdom was worthy of his forgiveness. No one who fought his utopia was worthy of living.

“Maybe Stefan’s won some battles but he will lost the war. I will kill him, I will burn his soul and then Earth will burn under my hellfire”

Cade’d ordered his Hunters to remain in the nearby of Mystic Fall, without specific the reasons, because he knew that, in case Henry or Stefan failed to kill their siblings, the others would intervene and accomplish the task at their brothers’ place.

“When Stefan realizes all his lovely siblings will have arrived in Mystic Falls, ready to destroy him, his daughter and everyone who will stand in the way. Be ready, Stefan, because I will be your farewell.”

Of course Cade would go to Mystic Falls personally. If there was someone who had to retrieve the bone dagger, it would be him.   
He couldn’t risk that another Hunter took it for him. What if he found out that there was someone else who was ready to kill him ?   
At that point, he couldn’t take anything for granted, not even the superiority and fear his powers gave to him.

 


	46. Honesty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No legacy is so rich as Honesty.
> 
> -William Shakespear

**CHAPTER 46**

‘I have the bone dagger, Klaus. Tell me where are you ?’.  
Klaus jumped when he heard Eri’s voice in his head. So it was true that she was an Huntress and he felt so sad for her.  
He looked at Stefan and wondered what would he do if there was Hope at Eri’s place. He probably would lose his mind, but that wasn’t what was hitting him the most about Stefan.  
The toddler looked too much collected and calm in that moment, regardless what Eri’d just told to him, about the bone dagger. What if…  
‘You’re only communicating with me, right ? You can’t do it with Stefan, right ?’  
‘Yes. Cade’s keeping my mind under control. I’m sure he suspects my otōsan of all of this, but Damon told me you’re with him. Hurry up and tell me where you are’.  
‘We’re in Mystic Falls, in the underground tunnels. You can accessed thought Lockwood cellar or via Mystic Grill.”  
‘I wouldn’t know how to recognize them. To open up a portal I need to have clear in my mind the imagine of the place I want to reach. Think about one of the two places you mentioned before, then I’ll do the rest’.  
Klaus did as she asked. He immensely though about the Lockwood cellar and then Mystic Grill, just as an insurance.   
He didn’t want Eri to get lost or hurt, regardless of the fact that she had or not the bone dagger with her.  
He wanted to ask her if she knew something about his family but he quickly changed his mind. If she told the truth about Cade reading her mind, it would be better if he didn’t try to communicate with her anymore.   
Also, he knew why Eri chose to communicate with him instead of Stefan. Klaus’ mind was protected by Stefan’s powers, because he was his soul to save. Stefan couldn’t read his mind, so he couldn’t know that Eri had the bone dagger and if Cade tried to read in Stefan’s mind, which wasn’t currently under the protection of the Verbis Diablo, maybe he would think that or Eri hadn’t got the bone dagger yet or that she hadn’t entered in contact with her father, wrongly believing to be in advantage.  
Klaus smirked.  
Those Salvatore were so good at playing, both father and daughter.   
While Klaus was silently praying Salvatore’s art at deceiving and plotting against the other, Stefan was occupying his mind with much different thoughts.  
He was overanalyzing what Klaus’d told him earlier.  
So Henry erased his memory of Chicago, because he needed someone who distracted Cade, so that Henry could pursue his revenge in piece.

“I wasn’t Cade’s pawn, but Henry’s” he whispered, but Klaus heard him anyway.

“What ?” Asked Klaus.

“The Ripper showed you Henry’s memories, or sins, whatever. Henry persuaded Sybil to leave Cade’s side and he did it by having sex with Cade in front of her. Before that moment, Henry was nothing more than their marionette, but with that gesture, not only Henry seduced her husband but he also proved that she wouldn’t find any sort of consolation in him”

“In this way, he ceased to belong one of Sybil’s toll and he started to play his own game. Sybil didn’t give you to Cade, but to him, even thought she hadn’t realized back then”

“Exactly. So Henry got a new pawn and lost his queen, because if Sybil decided to come back in the game, she would play for Cade. He knew and he used it at his advantage.”

“Yes. Henry sacrificed the Queen, because he sacrificed his love for Sybil. But a pawn can be turned into a Queen, if moved properly. That pawn was me. I’m his new Queen now Klaus. I’m suppose to protect him until the end of the game” he concluded with a little smile.

“You don’t look upset with him. If I were you I would be”

“I don’t care if Henry has used me or not. Cade has been killing people for thee millennium, he’s the worst serial killer in human kind and the worst is that he fiercely believe in his ideals. He believes himself as the Devil, but I know what he really is. A monster. He simply wants to see this world to burn, as he burned a long time ago. He didn’t want to create a better world, he simply want everyone to suffer. I’ve been part of this madness. I wish I could say that he obliged me, but I could always refuse and allow him to kill me. I didn’t. I’m totally responsible for my bad actions and I hope God, and only him, will forgive or punish me one day”

“God complex, my what a fascinating personality disorder. But I want to ask you something.”

“Shoot”

“Cade’s not the real Devil, not the Christian ones at least, nor that I’m a fervent believer, but why do you continue to pray God and go to Church if you’re aware of this ?”

Stefan stopped for a moment and though. He looked at the rosary around his right wrist and at the silver bracelet at his left ones.  
Why ? It was the billion dollar questions.  
Stefan had always known that Cade was a simply psychic, whose had fortune and misfortune to born with an incredible power. Cade created Hell using only his own hatred, so no one could ever doubt his grandeur, but that made his downfall even more painful and sadder.  
Cade was simply a man full of hatred with the power of God and the heart of a beast. He created his empire by the dust of what he’d destroyed, making everything so decadent.  
But in the end… He died once and he could die again, if someone hit him, he would bleed.   
He was a monster that looked so terribly human in his childish, vane dystopia to create a new world made of perfection, but how could someone who stole the lights from other’s soul, create a world without darkness ?   
How could someone who infected other’s heart with wrath, lust and greedy chose who was worthy or not of forgiveness ?

“Because I want to constantly remember myself that he’s simply man. He was human once and he will die human. He’s a monster that looks so human if you look him in the eyes. Exactly like me, you, Damon, Henry… It was also a way to remember I was human once myself”

“What ?”

“Whose God would pray another ones for forgiveness and salvation ? Whose God wouldn’t be able to save himself alone ? Henry told me that being a Sinner Hunter means to be a God, but he’s wrong. I’m simply an human being who had the gift of of an imperfect immortality in change of his perfect mortality. Nothing more”

Stefan was glad that he could finally express his complete opinion about his nature.   
In his opinion it couldn’t exist the perfect immortality. What immortality could be consider perfect if it kept at someone else’ expense ?  
How could you deserve of living if you had to kill other people in order to survive ?  
Sinner Hunters weren’t different from parasites, that lived killing the cells in human body, or from vampires who lived drinking human’s blood. They were parts of a bigger organism called Hell, that needed nourishment by the souls of sinners.  
Which God’s existence was so dependent on the microorganism like humans ?   
Humans were perfect instead. Their lives had their dignity since their born and significance properly because they had a beginning and an end.   
What was more human than feeling ?   
Cade’s dystopia was created by an impulse, a strong desire of revolution, of a change. It born by wrath and resentment. Something that only a human could feel.

“The Devil… Arcadius, is only a human. A perfect human being. Remember this, Klaus” said Stefan walking again.

Normally Klaus would have got angry at those kind of statements, since he’d always been pretty proud of his immortality but maybe, he was willing to admit to himself that his immorality was far from perfect.  
Killing a vampire was easy compared to kill a Sinner Hunter or an Immortal like Silas.   
Maybe he’d spent the last centuries of his life as Sinner Hunter he would changed all his beliefs as well. Maybe he would have looked for a support in faith, in God, just to remember himself that the Master of Hell was nothing more than a psychotic man with a God complex.   
Arcadius was a prideful man, who believed to be able to pass beyond God’s laws, to create new ones and rule over the world. He didn’t believe in God, so he tried to become ones himself. Or simply he was trying to prove to his executioners that they killed a divinity and no an ordinary man.  
People who weren’t loved, trying to turn themselves in being worthy of worship.   
Klaus understood it well.  
The arrived in front of the cave and both of them couldn’t enter inside, not even Stefan because he was still a vampire. Henry was giving them his back and he was looking at the Bell, studying it.

“Klaus told him everything, Henry.” Said Stefan more to caught the other’s attention than for doing conversation “I know that I’ve been playing for you and not for him, and that for the moment I’m also your scapegoat. When do you think Cade will come for me ?”

“Scapegoat ? I thought that Cade could read your minds and spy on you to keep all of you at bay”

“You’re not wrong, Nikky” said Henry looking at them “But Cade is pride of himself, of his doing. He sees nothing but pureness and justice and his actions and he believes that everyone sees the same things, specially me, who used to be his pupil. I made him believe that I share his ideas and values, while Stefan has always been the troublemaker. The one with cunning tongue who rejects him and his plans for the world”

“So he’s not suspecting of you, but Stefan. He thought that this little toddler over here is the mind behind all of this”

“Another human trait of Cade is that he easily let his wrath blinds him, so probably he’s currently incapable of thinking with clarity or he would know that me and Eri could have never planned all of this alone and surely not only in few days. I guess that he believes that I’ve been planning to demote him only after the deal, like a revenge for not be allowed to stay with Klaus. Am I right ?”

“Oh Steffy, you’re so clever and smart. You know me so well too.” Henry came closer to him and continued “I would have never been able to achieve all of this without you. I hope there are no grudges between us”

“Why should I held a grudge ? We’re at the end. I may or may not die. Getting angry with you doesn’t have any sense at this point.”

“Actually is important to me. Believe me or not, you has been the first person I was interested into since Sybil broke my heart. At the beginning you were nothing but a bet to me, the fiche I put on the table to gamble. I was very curious to know how long it would take before you gave into Cade’s blandishments. But you never did, even after erasing your memory of Klaus, even though all the pain filled inside your hear I don’t remember to ever see you on the point of surrender”

Henry was saying the truth, something he didn’t do so often anymore. Not only because he didn’t trust people, but sometime he simply lied because he wanted.  
When you lived behind a mask, you breathed, behaved and talked like that mask.   
Henry had never expressed his admiration for someone, but Stefan.  
He remembered one episode when Stefan’d behaved particularly rebellious and Cade was so furious with him that he made him died over and over again. In the end ?  
Stefan bursted in laugh in front of him, pulling his middle finger up and leaving Cade’s mansion as nothing happen. Henry envied him so much. He wished to be like him, pride, confident, brave, kind, compassionate.  
Because if Henry managed to reach a superhuman stage in matter of killing, which meant that he managed to kill with the indifference of a God, Stefan put his heart in the process too.  
Stefan killed with anger toward Cade, with sadness and guilt for his victim, not matter if her or him was a sinner, with disgust for himself and fear toward the darkest part of himself, the Ripper, who felt nothing but joy. So many emotions, so many feelings, Stefan was so alive compared to him.

“Neither did you. You loved Cade to survive, not because you wanted. You needed Arcadius to trust you, to share his secrets with you. Making the Devil fell in love with you and fell in love with him it was only the first part of your Master plan. Cade adores being desired but he also gets bored of people rather quickly. Your love for him concealed your hatred. I could have never played with someone’s feelings. I can take his life but not his heart, is too much cruel”

“I wonder if you had the same idea if you were me, at my place.” Muttered Henry with anger “Cade doesn’t deserve any mercy. I played with his heart and I allowed him to play with mine. I wanted to come back home, then Sybil’s love, than to die, than to be free and he denied me all of the things.”

“And here where the material things conversation began, right ? I would have helped you anyway, Henry. I told you, I’m not angry, I wish I could but I’m not. We’ve been in this together, I asked you, begged you for help because I know what it means being so alone”

“You have Eri, I have no one. I don’t want anyone because everyone leave you at some point. I was in love with Sybil, the mad ones. I was her man and I was crazy for her. So hopelessly in love. She was madly in love, but not with me. Why it’s never me ?” Asked Henry with coldness, as he was asking something about a scientific topic than about himself “Why no one chose me ? My mother chose all my siblings. She payed their immortality with my dead and he redemption with my soul. I was supposed to remedy all her mistakes. Can you believe it ?”

Henry felt as he was always the second choice.   
Why wasn’t he enough to be love ? Why did his mother let him dying ?   
It wasn’t because she loved him or she would have let him go.   
She gave him to Devil’s Bride instead, so that he could become a Sinner Hunter and eventually kill all his siblings if they proved not to be strong enough to keep their thirst at bay.   
Coward… Egoistic… Cruel… Monstrous…  
Was him so insignificant for her ? Had she ever regretted her choice ? Had she ever thought about his pain ? Did she try, at least once, to have him back ?  
He was just a child…  
He looked in Stefan’s eyes and he knew he would find comprehension. Because his thoughts’ were Stefan’s.  
Why did they have to pay for their siblings’ mistakes ? Why did they always sacrificed their happiness to make other’s happy without having a little sympathy in return ?   
Stefan knew, as Henry, that nor Klaus, or Damon, or Kol could never be saved. That not matter what they did, their brothers would always find a way to hurt them because they didn’t know other way to live.

“We’re so similar, Stefan. Your anger is mine. Your pain is mine. Your existence is mine. I could have never met someone who’s so similar to me”

“You don’t believe in redemption Henry. I want to believe that I can still be saved. That without powers Damon can be a decent man and…”

“And what ? Where was him when you needed him ? Your love for him will be the end for you as it happen to me. Damon will always disappoint you and Klaus is not so much different. He proved not to be able to change for his daughter, how could you expect him to change for you ? There’s no salvation, we’re already in Hell. Don’t let him drags you in the poorness with him”

“Should he remain in Hell with you ?” Asked Klaus with anger “Is that what you’re suggesting ?”

Henry laughed “I won’t let you destroy me, Klaus. I don’t care what you feel or not about me. Henrik died a long time ago. Accept it. I want things that you can’t give me. I will bear the curse of my greedy for the rest of my existence. I want money, I want power, I want glory, I want Cade’s throne and a perfect Immortality. Why should I give up on all of this, ah ? For you ? To be in your shadow ? Fuck off, being a Mikaelson is not what I want for myself”

Henry wasn’t lying, both vampires knew it, but Stefan had hoped that the raven hair boy would have lied at least now. But apparently not. It was time for confessions, it was time to tell the truth because lying had no meaning anymore.  
The irony was that nor Stefan or Klaus could reprove Henry for wanting what he wanted.  
Klaus himself used to want power, glory and a kingdom for himself, when the love of his family was too little, when friendship was pointless if it didn’t have advantages,   
When loving someone had but one outcome, its own destruction.   
Stefan couldn’t deny that there were times that he enjoyed being a Sinner Hunter. Somehow it was the life of his certainties. Money, power, an almost perfect immortality, but on the other hand…  
He looked at Klaus and thought that the blond vampire was everything he wanted. If he compared what Cade gave to him with Klaus, they all lost their importance.   
What was the point of prolonging his loneliness ?  
What was the point of carrying away the sadness inside his heart ?  
And there was also Eri.   
He couldn’t live a life without her, without their routine, their reality. If he continued to be an Hunter and her too, they would never be able to stay together. He promised her that they would be a family, that they would be free of that madness. Stefan didn’t want a perfect immortality, If he couldn’t teach Eri how to drive a car, or how to dance, or accompany her to shopping.

“I haven’t resisted Cade for myself, but for Eri…” he whispered “You have Dorian. You can…”

“I’ve never loved him, Stefan. I took him away from Freya and I let his surrogate mother dying because I hate mothers. I took care of him, maybe I feel affection for him, but now enough to give up everything for him. I live only for myself”

“Do you expect me to die for you ?” Asked Stefan “Since Sybil chose to die for Cade, do you expect me to sacrifice myself as your Queen ?”

“You would never do, wouldn’t you ?” Asked Henry mocking him.

Stefan swallowed the words he was tempted to pronounce in his teeth and turned around.   
His silence was the answer that Henry needed.

…

Lexi would have never imagined to find herself inside a car with other four Sinner Hunters, followed by others two where there were five hunters in each one.   
She believed that Hunters were a lot of more, but apparently Cade’s scrutiny was difficult to pass over. If he based his criteria on the innocent of the heart, she could totally believe that only few people could satisfy him.   
She was surrounded by the most dangerous creatures on the face of the Earth and yet she wasn’t scared.   
Not enough to step back.  
Henry’s scenario became true as he’d predicted.   
She should feel scared by him and his powers. She should have never got herself involved. That would have been the smarter thing to do.   
Instead she found herself driving a car with Hunters at her side and behind her.  
The most insane aspect of all of the situation, was that she wasn’t scared. Something told her that she was safe, if she followed the plan, everything would be okay.

“Have you ever met the Devil ?” Asked the Hunter at her side.

He was a young psychic, not older than twenty five, according to Henry’s informations, whose face was almost completely covered by a black mask, the same that the three hunters sat behind were wearing as well. Apparently they cared for their identity to remain a secret, or maybe it was due to the face that Hunters couldn’t know each other’s identity or face, unless they didn’t meet personally in their hunting territory.

“No, I’ve never had this… misfortune” she answered.

“So you’ve been plotting against him and he let you get away with this ?” Asked the same Hunter.

“Cade is too focused on his plan to bring Hell on Earth, specially now that he’s so close to win”

“Exactly for this. I don’t know if I should trust you. Henry is not exactly trustworthy, if you know what I mean”

“Yeah I know. But I do trust my best friend. Stefan would never hurt me”

“Stefan… the Prodigal Son… he’s quite famous among us. He’s one of the best” commented another female Huntress, whose long blond hair almost hide the mask on her face.

“That’s exactly my point” said the Hunter sat at Lexi’s side “How could we know that this isn’t a trap set up for up ?”

“Oh, this is a trap, but not for you. I can’t say I know all details but I know you will be safe” said Lexi.

“Bullshit” sat a third male hunter “If Cade dies we will follow him in the nonetheless. We will lose our powers and our immortality”

“Now this is a bullshit ” said the blond Huntress “I would describe my immortality with a lot of terms, no one of them is perfect”

“That’s your opinion. I can’t even say I disagree with Cade’s vision. I mean, we’ve been killing bad people in his name, so what ? We’re doing a favor to this world. We bring justice and if Cade succeeds, we may won’t even need to kill for him”

“So he won’t need of us anymore and he will get rid of us.” Said the first hunter “forever. If there’s something Cade hates are useless things. Whether we chose to fight or not, we will die”

Lexi wondered what powers the Hunter at her side had. He was talking as if he already knew what was going to happen, or that he’d already predicted all the possible scenarios. Well, he was also right. Once Cade’s ideals would become reality, no one could say for sure what would happen to the Hunters.  
Would Cade get rid of them ?  
Probably. He already had an army of kitsune, Hunters weren’t so necessary, specially because they could always find their soul to save and be free.   
Hunters weren’t an insurance, Henry and Stefan were a proof of that. Kitsune, like Jun, looked so loyal to him.

“Kitsune would never betray him, wouldn’t they ?” Asked Lexi.

“Kitsune should be neutral, but sometimes they like taking sides during conflicts. Some of them have been fighting for Cade for so long that they ended up to believe in his ideals, in his utopia and so no. They won’t betray him” explained the third Hunter.

“Speaking of which, I suppose we have to make a stop” said the blond Huntress.

“Why ?” Asked Lexi who noticed that the cars behind stopped.

“Because we have company” said the first Hunter.

It was only in that moment that Lexi noticed ten people in front of them. six women, four men, seven kitsune, dressed up like those ninja warriors in a manga and Lexi for a moment believed that it was only a charade.   
She stopped the car and attempted to get out but the Hunter at her side stopped her.

“You shouldn’t go. They’re here for us and differently from Hunters they are allowed to kill anyone who stand in the way, included innocents people. Like you”

“I fought a kitsune one and I think I can do it again” said Lexi trying to get free.

The Hunter took off his mask, revealing his face.   
He was an handsome young man, with very delicate facial features, full pis and a beauty mark on the right side of the lower lip. He had heterochromatic eyes, one green the other gold and he was looking at her weirdly.  
Lexi could see sadness, melancholy, worries, knowledge, maybe even fear.

The Hunter gasped then he smiled “I shouldn’t have revealed my face, but I did because I want you to trust me, us. My name is James. I’ll tell my last name when this we’ll be over”

Lexi was going to open her mouth to say something but then the Hunter, James, kissed her, forcing his tongue inside her mouth.   
It wasn’t that he was bad kisser, the contrary actually, but Lexi didn’t appreciate to be kissed without her permission so she slapped him.  
James smirked, then blinked.

“One last kiss before my suppose death. I hope I won’t die, I want to kiss you again”

Then he got out from the car together with the other Hunters. Lexi was frantic. According to Henry’s predictions, Cade would ordered voluntarily all his hunters to go to Mystic Falls, so did he also send his kitsune ?   
Did the Devil suspect something ?   
Did the kitsune suspect something and Cade knew nothing about what was happening ?   
She didn’t forget how hard it was fighting against June and they were in three.   
‘God protects us because this isn’t going to end well’ she thought.

…

Eri breathed a sigh of relief when she finally arrived in the underground tunnels. It hadn’t been easy found the Lockwood cellar but she finally did it.   
She would better hurry up since she’d waste a lot of time looking for the tunnels and her fingers hurt for how much tight was the grip around the bone dagger.  
She wondered if it had been a good idea contacting Klaus and not her otōsan and she felt like she was gambling with the Devil and she hated it.  
One wrong move, and they all would died.  
One wrong though, and their plan would failed.  
One hesitation and the Hellfire would reduce in dust.  
She ran toward the tunnel, trying to orient herself with Klaus’ sins. Her otōsan couldn’t feel them, but she could and at the moment they were the only thing that leaded her toward them.   
She couldn’t know how long she’d run when she heard someone calling for her and she could feel the presence of another Hunter.

“Eri ? Eri ? I know you’re here. Where are you ?” Asked her otōsan’s voice.

“I’m here, I’m coming !” She screamed.

Finally she found someone else under there. She had being along in places she didn’t know.  
It was only when Stefan appeared in front of her that she realized how much she’d missed him, even though they separated only the day before.   
The only thought that they were risking of spending their lives separated was enough to make her missing him more than she should have.   
Normally, she didn’t show her affection, neither toward him, she wasn’t the type who hugged or kissed her parents, but now, she wanted nothing more than hug him tight with her arms and she did.  
Stefan didn’t hesitate to hug her back, to caress her long ginger hair and kiss her sweet check.  
He loved her so much, never he’d imagined to be able to love someone so much, never.   
How could he ever predict that paternal love was so strong ? How could he feel so protective of another person ?  
How could Eri still be with him after so long ? After everything that happen ?

“How could you still run toward me, although I dragged you in Hell with me ?” He asked caressing her hair.

“Anata ga inu tokoro, watashi mo kuru. Watashitachiha kazokudeari, watashi wa anata o hanaremasen.” (Where you do, I come too. We’re a family and I don’t leave you)

“Anata wa watashinojinsei de saikō no monodesu, sore o shitte kudasai. Anata ga mada watashi no soba ni iru node, sore wa tan’ni watashiniha wakarimasen. Anata wa watashinojinsei no joseidesu. Watashi ga aisuru yuiitsu no joseidesu to watashi wa eien ni aisurudeshou.” (You’re the best thing in my life, know it. It simply does not make any sense to me… why you’re still next to me. You’re the woman of my life. The only woman I do and will love forever)

Stefan wanted Eri to know.   
He wanted her to know how much she meant to him, now before it could be too late, because he could risk to lose her forever.   
Eri smiled grateful. It was almost ironic how Hell looked you like heaven when you shared it with the most important person of your life.   
If Cade arrived now and killed them, they would die happy because dying together was thousand time better than an eternity alone, without seeing each other.

“Anata mo watashinojinsei de mottomo jūyōna hitodesu” (You too are the most important man of my life)

If she was still alive, it was only because of him.  
If she could speak English, if she knew the sweet tastes of a birthday cake, if she was who she was it was only because of him.   
Her gratitude was such a strong tie that connected her with her otōsan. The only one they needed.   
Today every word was worthy of being pronounced.  
Today any confession could be expressed, at one step from the Hellfire.  
Today any moment of sweetness deserved to be lived.   
After all, a little moment of kindness looked only like a little taste before an eternity to be spent in the darkness, with monsters, and sinners and the Devil and his greedy.  
Eri hoped that God would be move by their affection, whether he did exist or not, if they were worthy of His forgiveness.   
Murder was the shameful shape of their life.  
Blood the terrible taste of their soul.  
Loneliness their curse.  
Black their color.

“I hope we will still be a family at the end of the day.” Whispered Eri “But right now, we still have a mission to accomplish”

“I know that it can be redundant, but I would have appreciated if you warned me about your plans”

“Hey ! I thought you considered us equals, but you think of me as a child !” Said Eri pouting.

“Eri, I’m your father, for me, you will always be a child. The adorable pout on your face is the proof” he said kissing her on the cheek.

“I kicked uncle Damon’s ass, I’m not a child” said Eri.

“I’m not going to ask what you’ve done to him. But little fox, I’m proud you didn’t kill him. As you surely have guess, killing someone being a Sinner Hunter is not like killing someone by being something else. Sinner Hunters kill people to increase their power, somehow it’s their nourishment, like blood for vampires. Once you begin, it will become harder and harder to stop”

“Well, I hasn’t killed anyone, yet.” Said Eri giving the bone dagger to her otōsan.

“What do you mean yet ?” Asked Stefan,

Eri had a strange look on her face. A look that he saw any time he thought to see the Ripper reflected on the mirror.   
It wasn’t a simple looked of hatred, but the ones who had a beast before to attack.   
She looked ready to tear all the world down with her, ready to kill the Devil herself.

“Eri… I don’t like the look on your face”

“I taste the sinful fruit of Hell, otōsan. I will never be the same. You should understand this better than anyone” she said taking his hand.

Stefan closed his eyes and took a breath.   
It was truth.  
Somehow, being chosen by Devil, allowing him to take but a taste of your soul was enough to make you change forever.   
Even if they succeeded to kill Cade that day, they would never be able to be the same persons they used to be.  
Stefan would never be able to look at the world with hope and joy, because he’d lived with the scum, the bestiality and the darkest nature of human heart.   
He’d been living feeling, seeing and devouring the sins of the scum of the humanity. How could he ever see innocence again when everything his eyes were accustomed to see was guilty and fault ?   
Maybe the world wasn’t so corrupted, but he definitively was. He didn’t share Cade ideals, but he wasn’t blind at the monsters around him. He was aware that no one could ever stop the seed of corruption falling on Earth but a part of him, not matter how little it was, would never stop to think about how fare it could be eliminating all the bad people around him. How fun it was killing. The Ripper loved what Stefan hated after all.  
If once the Stefan managed to control, sometimes even erased the Ripper self, now… now He completely accepted the Ripper as part of himself.   
The Ripper was the Hell that would never cease to burn his soul.   
He knew and Eri did too.

“Let’s go Eri. We have a checkmate to make”

“Wait. Before we go. I need to know. Did you want to kill Damon ?”

Stefan turned around, because he didn’t have the courage to look her in the face, to admit the terrible truth.   
Eri wouldn’t judge him, she’d never done, but she knew, and he knew that she knew.  
Eri was always the external spectator, the critic, the audience. She observed the tragedy of their lives scene after scene, she watched a plot of lies, tricks, betrays, blood, lust and fire, without taking part before the deal with Cade.  
Eri saw him struggle against the Ripper, she knew any shades of his soul. She knew that he wasn’t the victim, he was the snake.  
He was the one who had tempted Damon first. He was the one who had bewitched his brother with promises of an eternal happiness, when he pushed his brother to live with him because he couldn’t accept him to die for Katherine. He knew he’d made a terrible mistake that day and he tried to apologize for that. But there were those day, those day when he wish his brother were dead, to get rid of him, forever.  
It was cruel, but there were times when he couldn’t avoid to think that he should have let Damon die or kill him before his brother became a monster.  
He was angry and envious because in the end, Damon found happiness before him and for Stefan that was so unfair.  
He was the one who always tried to be a good boy.   
He was the one who was willing to sacrifice himself for others.  
He was the one who struggle to live according to God’s rules.  
So why ?

“You shouldn’t lie to me. You shouldn’t lie at all. It’s not worthy anymore and you can be angry if you want. No one can blame you” said Eri.

“You’re right, again. I’m angry and I did wanted to kill him, because I can’t accept the fact that, after everything he did, he found his happiness while I’m still struggling to gain mine. I have you, we’re less sad when we’re together but we’re not free.”

“We will, today, in the death, in the nothingness or in Heaven, we will. Come on”

 

…

Dorian finished to play his melody as he could feel him coming. Eri’s spell was strong, but he wanted to make it stronger by adding a little bit of his magic.   
He looked at his flute and thought about how ironic was that an object made by Hellfire was now not only being used against his creator but also used to do something good.   
Could he do something good as well ?  
Would he ever be able to do something good by himself and not for others’ request ?  
Would he ever be able to be something more than a weapon ?  
Dorian felt that he wasn’t so different from the flute in his hand.   
A weapon wasn’t good or bad and it couldn’t be loyal to any owner, it simply served the one who conquered it.   
Cade used to possess Dorian and the flute, so Dorian played it only to kill his name.  
Now Dorian changed owner, he played the flute for Eri, for Henry and Stefan. But not for himself.  
How could he chose to fight for or against Cade if he didn’t even know whether he shares his ideals or not ?  
Was Cade idea of saving the world from the rotten people so evil ?  
Was his methods really so… unnecessary and drastic ?  
What was his opinion on the matter ?  
Wasn’t wrong killing people ? If it was the only thing that made Cade evil, than more or less everyone in the room with him shared the same cruelty.  
All of them killed people before, who for revenge, who for their nourishment, who for pure entertainment, but no one of them had simply sacrificed someone in the name of an ideal that could benefit all the world.  
What other reason for killing could be more noble than saving the world ?   
Cade had never killed innocent people, his plans were always flawless and not all the Hunters had been blackmailed. In fact the 90% of them spontaneously made a deal with him in change of the so called ‘Perfect Immortality’.   
They weren’t victims, they shouldn’t complain only because Cade expected from them an adequate payment for what he gave to them.

“What are you thinking about Dorian ?” Asked Freya who was looking at him with worry.

“Mom…” he called her that way because it looked like the right thing to do, but he couldn’t say he consider her his mother already “…Why is Cade evil ?”

Freya was surprised by his question and she took some minutes to think about an adequate answer. She din’t know the nature of the relationship between Cade and her son, she couldn’t know if Cade was someone important, a sort of role model or not. Probably he wasn’t, but she didn’t want to risk to say something wrong.

“I think that his actions speak for him, Dorian. He behaves according to corrupted and twisted sense of justice, but from what I gather. But what he did, what he hopes to accomplish, isn’t right. He’s only a murder”

“So are you, and your siblings, and those humans. You don’t hesitate to sacrifice people in order to get what you want. The only difference is that Cade has limits, he doesn’t kill innocents and if he does, he follows and ideal that maybe could be advantageous for many. Can you imagine a world without evil ?”

“Dorian, he doesn’t want to create a world without evil. He wants to bring Hell on Earth, he wants to kill thousands people. How could you accept to live into a world which price is so high ?”

“Don’t ask me that question. I don’t have any respect for human life, nor because I consider myself any better than humans. Simply because I killed many of them before, for practice. I wish to say I didn’t know what I was doing but I did, I do. I simply didn’t know if it was wrong, because I wasn’t allowed to have opinion. Now I simply want to be sure that I’m fighting the good fight”

“You are.” Said Freya taking his hand “I don’t know if I’m the kind of mother you were expecting or not, I don’t know you but I want to. I don’t want you to be afraid to ask questions, even thought they could be embarrassing or something like that. I don’t want you to repress your opinions or ideas about me.”

“I don’t want to be rude. I simply want to understand something. Thank you for your answer”

Freya wished to ask what Dorian was thinking about and she did “Why exactly did you ask it ?”

“Because I know why my name is Dorian. His innocence got ruin under the influence of the cubism of Lord Henry Wotton. In the first chapter Wotton himself considers Dorian a brainless, beautiful thing. I suppose that’s the line that inspired both Henry and Cade the most. They wanted nothing more than a brainless beautiful little thing to freely drown into an ocean of sins and blood. Someone who could represent the beauty of an ugly reality.”

Whose child spoke like that ?  
Freya was sure that she’d never and probably never would meet another child who spoke like that about himself and life.   
A brainless beautiful little thing ?  
Was that what Dorian see when he looked at himself in the mirror ?  
Did he truly consider himself like nothing more than memorial of Cade’s grandeur ?   
The beauty of a rotten world ?  
Was he too lost like Dorian Grey to be saved ? Did Dorian truly want to be safe ? Could she be strong enough to save him ?   
She hoped, with all her heart, specially because she had no intention of losing him again, not now that she had another possibility to stay with him, to make him realize that he so much more than a beautiful face, that he could be smart and independent. That he could leave beyond Cade’s influence.  
That it wasn’t too late for them to be happy.  
Dorian looked in her eyes and fro a moment he was tempted of telling her that he found her hope so vain. That he would never completely get over of Cade’s influence, That not matter how many years would pass, a part of his soul would burn in hell forever.   
Meanwhile, Elena was holding Damon’s body in her arms, too happy to see him alive to notice that something in him was different. But Caroline and Alaric did.

“There’s something different in him…” commented the blond man “He looks… I don’t know…”

“Human” stated Caroline “He’s human. I can smell his blood and now he’s different. He’s not a vampire anymore”

“What ? How could this happen ? I’m the only one who has the cure” said Elena confused.

“Maybe Stefan or Cade or someone else of them managed to create another cure. I don’t know. But he’s no longer a vampire” affirmed Caroline.

“I don’t care.” Said Elena, then she smiled “I’m simply glad he’s still alive.”

“For the moment, at least” said a voice who made everyone in the room jumped.

They all turned toward the entrance of the Armory, where Eri had left Damon before to run away, and they all saw a man, with skin dark as chocolate and eyes black as night, completely dressed up in black, as his soul.  
No one of them had ever met the Devil before and nevertheless they knew who that man was. He couldn’t be anyone else but him, the King of Hell, the Lord of their nightmares, that plague that was ruining all their lives. Arcadius, or Cade.   
No one of them expected someone like him. More or less, they all imagined the Devil as someone whose judgment was so disrupted by his God Complex, whose soul was so ruined by his sins not to look human anymore.   
They imagined someone whose body represented the level of superhumanity of his mind and magic.  
Apparently not. His body hide all the darkness of his soul.  
Should they be scared ? Yes, they all should. They knew what Cade was capable of and what he could do to them.  
Dorian said that Eri had used Damon as an anchor for a powerful protective spell, they all hoped it would work.  
Cade knew that the Armory was protected by Verbs Diablo, because he couldn’t enter, nevertheless whoever perfumed the spell (probably Eri Salvatore), was too weak to completely erase the extent of his powers.  
He could feel their sins, read their minds, but he knew his Hellfire wouldn’t be able to penetrate the shield.

“That little fox made a good job. Not good enough. I may not be able to enter but I can still see your sins and read your thoughts. I can’t physically harm you, but I can easily find a way to torture you” said Cade making some steps ahead.

“Don’t you have enough ? Of ruining our lives ?” Asked Elena “Why ? Why do you hate Damon so much ? Why did you order Stefan to kill his own brother ?”

“My dear, Damon is only the bait to fish a bigger fish. I like thinking that, after three thousands years, I can put a price on anyone’s soul. Damon’s soul worthy less than one hundred dollars, maybe even less. Stefan’s soul amounts to one hundred billion dollars. There’s no comparison.”

“And my son’s ? How does my son’s soul amount, you pig ?” Asked Freya screaming.

“Dorian’s ? Dorian’s soul amounts to three hundred billions, enough to pay my forgiveness for Henry’s past mistakes, not enough to save all your lives. What are you doing Dorian ? Why didn’t you kill them ?” Asked Cade who already knew the answer.

Cade could notice that something was changed in Dorian. He could see it from his eyes. Dorian’s green eyes were always emotionless, cold, the eyes of a souls doll, now there was clear something in his eyes. What was ? Hope ? Joy ?   
What was that disgusting light inside his eyes ? The proof of his betrayal toward him, the Devil.  
Why did Henry leave him alone with Freya ? That reveled to be a reckless move. Where was Henry ?   
He wasn’t in the Armory, so where he was ? Did he find Stefan ? Was he trying to defend his honor ?  
Cade knew it was that way.  
Henry would never betray him, not after all their nights of love. Not after that Cade gave him his heart, revealing his secrets, revealing and confessing a part of him that he would have never dared to show to anyone else.   
Henry showed to share and approve his vision, his plans to build a new perfect world by bringing Hell on Earth, sho he would never try to get in his way.  
Dorian didn’t know how to answer. What was the right thing to say ? Why didn’t he kill them ? He tried, he really did and for a moment even wanted, but now… after Eri…  
He imposed himself to stop think about anything else. Eri’s spell was too weak to completely nullify the effects of Cade’s powers on them. He could tell it because he felt Cade’s pretense in his head and the worst was that he couldn’t even use Verbis Diablo now, or it would be like he was openly admitting to know something and Eri would be in troubles because of him,

“I couldn’t. I’m sorry” he said.

Cade smiled, almost affectionally, then he said “I shouldn’t have imposed such a mission to you. I should have know that young mind like yours could be easily influenced by false promises of love and protection. Don’t worry Dorian, just remember who your life depends on”

Dorian blinked then he simply asked “Do you want to kill me ?”

“No, Dorian. When all of this ends, I know you’ll find a way to deserve my forgiveness. Or Henry will do. Now, prove me your loyalty and tell me where’s Stefan”

“I don’t know”

Dorian was telling the truth after all. He had no idea where Henry was, or Stefan or Eri. He could simply speculate that they were all together, nothing else.   
Cade knew this too.   
He could feel that Dorian was telling him the truth and that was frustrating. He didn’t need to ask him if Eri had the bone dagger because it was obvious. In the same moment Ethan died, he felt it. Ethan was the key for his bone dagger and looking at the situation, if those bunch of idiots hadn’t tried anything to resurrect yet, it meant that they already had obtained what they wanted. Or they had. Cade couldn’t feel his bone dagger elsewhere either.   
Dorian was completely useless in that moment. He should kill him, he wanted.   
Actually, he wanted to destroy anything in that moment, anything and everyone, reduced the entire world in dust.  
Never the taste of the betrayal looked so bitter on the tip of his tongue. The cruel despair of an imminent defeat only increased his anger and prevented him from thinking clear.  
He knew for the moment he had not so many cards to play.  
He had the other Maxwell brat, Matt Donovan. But he didn’t have the bell.  
He had a bunch of idiots locked up inside the Armory without the dagger, so he couldn’t even blackmail them to give it in change of their friend’s life, as he originally thought to do.   
Maybe…   
He looked at Dorian, then at his knees and he saw the flute. So that little lifeless furniture didn’t throw it away after all.   
The flute was made by Hellfire and as any object molded in the same fire, it could open a direct portal on Hell and free the Hellfire.   
Maybe he could still have some fun…

“Any life has his price. Any life could be bought. Don’t forget that Matt Donovan’s fate is still in my hands.”

Alaric, Elena, Caroline and Bonnie gasped in horror.

“Is he still alive ?” Asked Alaric.

“What did you do to him ?” Asked Bonnie

“Nothing, for the moment and I won’t do him any harm. Just allow Dorian to come with me”

Cade didn’t really want to take Dorian back. He was simply earning some time so that his kitsune could drag Donovan’s butt right there and tortured him in front of his friend. His minion confirmed to be on the way, that Matt Donovan was still unconscious but alive.  
Cade smirked. He saw Dorian blinked, a way to show that the young hunter knew what Cade was planning to do.  
That was another test for Dorian too. Proving not to be beyond stupidity and keep his mouth close or spying Cade’s intentions and risking to be set on fire in front of anyone.  
Dorian maybe was a brainless little thing but at least Cade wanted to believe that he had at least a little sense of self preservation.   
Once Matt Donovan arrived there, Cade would torture him senseless, with any kind of torture that came into his mind at that moment. But for the moment, he had to wait so he would be better find a way to entertain himself.

“Dorian won’t go anywhere with you. I will do whatever it take to protect him from you” said Freya

“Sorry Madame Bovary, the poison won’t be enough to save Dorian from me this time. Another woman had the privilege of giving birth to Dorian and this time you won’t be able to kill him again”

“I didn’t want to kill him. I wanted to kill myself, I wanted to save us both”

“Arianna… She’s Dorian’s mother now. Or at least that is the name Henry introduced her to me. She was pregnant with Dorian, she gave birth to him and she loved him until her death. She died so he could come back alive. That’s love”

“Arianna…” whispered Dorian with wide eyes

For a moment he thought to smell her perfume and suddenly Dorian remembered her. This beautiful woman, with dark long messy hair, the forehead sweat, the cheeks wet with tears, the most beautiful smiled he could remember to have ever seen.   
Arianna smelled of roses and strawberry even after so many long tedious hours to give him birth.   
He forgot the name of that woman a long time ago and with it all the other memories about her, until that moment.  
Cade noticed the hurtful and curious look on Freya’s face when Dorian pronounced the name of his ‘other’ mother and he felt satisfied with himself.   
Now the next.

“I suppose that stealing other’s children shouldn’t sound so scandalous here. Neither let them die for your mistakes. Don’t you agree Mr Saltzman ?” Asked Cade to the blond hunter.

“Why don’t you do a favor to everyone and let yours burn in Hellfire ?” Replied the blond man.

“Bluebeard, this should be your name. I should kill you for uxoricide. Isobel Flemming, Jenna Sommers, Josette Laughlin, all dead and all of them used to believe and love you. At this point, if I were you I would begin to ask questions. Who knows what curse you have to kill all the women who dare to love you ?”

“You bastard !” Screamed Alaric who tried to get closer to him but Caroline stopped him.

“Don’t listen to him. He simply wants to provoke you” said Caroline.

“Oh yeah, she may will survive Bluebeard’s curse because she’s a vampire. But now I’m curious. Why didn’t you chose Klaus when you could ?” Asked him.

“What do you mean ? What’s the matter with Klaus ?” Asked Caroline confused.

“Because If I finally manage to understand everything unappealing in Klaus Mikaelson I will finally persuade Stefan to get rid of him and thinking about what’s best for him. After all, someone who has been content to eat pork chop for a lifetime can’t suddenly rectify his taste and eat fillet…”

“Pork chop ?” Asked Caroline indignantly.

“… And it’s not a new that a romantic guy like Stefan would be happier with someone who understand his soul and not an hybrid between Lady Macbeth and Hamlet. You’re perfectly screwed up, after all with your silly obsession to find the true love, are the perfect resemble of Isolde and Ophelia. And since you’re the mother of Bluebeard children try not to be the modern blond version of Sybil Vane”

‘Master, we’re close. We’ll arrive soon’.  
Cade smiled wider, showing the teeth white as the snow. He looked at Dorian and he knew that the brat had read his mind.  
Dorian felt something strange inside his chest. Maybe it was what people usually called fear. He knew things would get worse soon. He knew what Cade was planning to do and the worst was that he couldn’t even something to stop him.   
Maybe someone would consider his decision insane, but he had to chose between the already dead defeated useless pieces out of the chessboard and the few pieces who could still win the game.  
If he, his mother and the other died now, included Matt Donavan, the better. They would die happy with the knowledge that Cade would die anyway.

“Klaus had nothing wrong, but somehow I knew he wasn’t the right one for me”

“Well, You weren’t wrong. Klaus is born only to plague my plans with his existence. I’m afraid that when Stefan realized his ineptitude will be too late. Ineptitude is also the mark of his whole family, isn’t it ?” Asked Cade “Elijah, the apparently good brother with gentle manners. You are a lot like Stefan, I see the same devotion in your ideals and toward your family, but you lack of conviction. What’s worst is that you could have reach the success but differently from Klaus you’re not so good at leadership. You commit banal errors that cost others’ lives. Your heart is not pure as you may think it is.”

“You know nothing about me” said Elijah coming closer.

“I do know a lot of things about you, the worst of you. The huge hatred that poisoned your heart for your brother, whom you blame for your misery. The truth is that without him, you’re nothing. Your authority is nothing. Since your childhood sloth is the color of your life. You simply stay still and observe how your reality falls apart in from of you and when you decide to act, it’s too late. Always”

“What a tragedy you are. The great Devil, reduced to mock like a pathetic high school bully because he knows to be in trap” said Rebekah.

“Trap ? Ah ! You wouldn’t be capable to lead me into a trap even at my worst and about you...”

‘Master, we’re here’.  
Cade didn’t even have to turn around to see Shinichi and Misao behind him with Matt Donovan. The expressions of horror and surprise of those idiots were enough to him.   
He used Verbis Diablo to control Dorian’s flute, that began to burn on the boy’s knees who couldn’t put it up with it and let it fall on the ground.   
Hellfire spread from it and began to burn everything around.

“My my, I can’t enter inside and Dorian is still too unexperienced to control all that Hellfire. How are you going to survive now ?” Asked Cade mocking them.

Elena, Bekah, all of them were looking around, trying to find an escape not to run out where Cade was, but the more they thought the more the Hellfire burned everything around them. Also, they could barely breath or see something because of the smog. Their safe basements had been just turned into their brazier and there was no other escape than the principal exit.   
Damn it !

“This is my game, darlings. You can’t beat me at my game…” the more he spoke, the more Hellfire burn the Armory all around the guys.

“Turn off the fire you piece of shit !!” Shouted Kol.

“Dorian, please, try to control the Fire !” Begged Bonnie to the young Hunter.

But Dorian looked lifeless, petrified, with an expression of pure terror on his face. He knew he would never be capable of controlling that amount of Hellfire, not in his condition, not if his flute was the portal that was bring the fire there.  
There had no choice but to exit, if they wanted to survive.  
So, slowly, but firmly, he drove his wheelchair toward Cade, hoping inside his heart that the other would follow him.

“Oh, little boy is the smartest of all of you. When you can’t beat him, join him. Why can’t understand that ? Maybe you need another proof of my cruelty”

He snapped his fingers and then Misao grabbed Matt on his shoulders and dislocated it.   
Matt screamed for the pain, even though he was trying not to. He didn’t want to alarm the other, he hoped they would find another way out of the Armory, that they could still save themselves somehow, but he saw no escape himself.  
They lost.  
He knew it and so the other when they chose to come out.  
Cade smiled then he used the Verbis Diablo again and made the Armory blow up from the inside.   
The big explosion made the group fell on the ground but no one of them got hurt, because the protective shield of Eri held the hellfire back inside the Armory or what it left of it.

“You always need to destroy something to build something new.” He said then he smiled “So… now that we can talk without any barrier between us, I can explain you better what I’m going to do with your friend”

“What did you do to him ? You have the Bell, what else could you need ?” Asked Alaric.

Cade remained speechless. So, they didn’t know that the bell he had was fake. They weren’t involved in Stefan’s plans. Strange.  
He looked at Damon, the living proof of Stefan’s betrayal and insubordination and he reproved himself. Stefan was too smart to involve Damon in his plans, also his brother was a simple declaration of challenge.   
Stefan was challenging his patient, putting in discussion his authority in front of a bunch of inferior creatures.  
Stefan was having fun humiliating him, but he’d underestimated how Cade was good at that game. If he wanted to win a competition with the Devil himself, mocking his grandeur in front of the pathetic existence of those guys, if he wanted to degrade the Devil then Cade would participate, using his best moves, sacrificing everyone and everything and then he would find a way to pursue his plan.  
He’d waited three thousands years to create a new world, he could wait more centuries.   
That was his final prove, the final step to demonstrate that his faith in a bright future was sincere, that he was determinate to save that rotten world that was drowning into an ocean of sins.

“I didn’t do anything to him. He’s important, almost fundamental, in my big picture. Unfortunately, I’m encountering so many inconveniences that are delaying my plans, but not for much longer. Now, since it’s clear that the bone dagger isn’t here and that I wasted too much time with all of you. Now that I’m free to use my powers on you I can be sure that you know nothing useful for me.”

“So what ? Are you going to kill us all ?” Asked Rebekah with hatred.

“Whose artist kills his public ? I allow you to live, because I want you to assist at the birth of my new world. I want you to see how Hellfire burns this world surrounded by shame and then, You’ll die. If you win now”

“Win ? What the hell are you babbling about ?” Asked Kol.

Cade smirked, then he grabbed Matt by shoulder and created a portal.

“Since I consider a little privacy adequate, I’m sure that Misao will perfectly able to entertain you all. Shinichi, you come with me”

Then he disappeared with Matt inside the portal, followed by Shinichi.  
The other looked at the kitsune in front of them and shrugged.  
Misao was smiling like the Cheshire Cat, her nails became longer and her eyes gold, her tongue was keeping to lick his lips, as she considered the guys more like dishes of a buffet.   
The Kyuubi wrapped her shape, ready to follow her commands.

“World is a buffet for the strong. Don’t you agree with me, sissy ?” Asked Misao to her Kyuubi, as it could answer her back.

“She’s completely out of her mind !” Said Kol.

“Well, as long as it tastes like I want, of sufferance, fear and desperation” Answered Misao to herself “The first move is mine, brother”

“Guy…” whispered Elijah “… Be ready.”

“I’m in the mood to procure me a new coat of fox” said Rebekah.

“We’re going to win and then save Matt” said Elena.

“At any cost” confirmed Caroline.

“Yes, Cade’s reign finishes today” confirmed Dorian grabbing his flute and beginning to play it.

How many emotions he tasted that day. Thrilling, excitement, joy, jealously, anger and fear and the world had never been so colorful before.   
How could he permit Hellfire to burn down a world that couldn’t be more perfect and alive ?  
The perfection made of thousands imperfections, dark and bright shades, night and day, so perfectly synchronized, a bittersweet melody that no one should silence.   
Maybe emotions turned him into a fool, maybe he’d just thrown away a perfect senseless existence only to live an uncertain, emotional, rational life with his mother and the rest of his family. His real family.  
‘For a new begin, a think that a new melody is appropriate’.

…

Henry smiled cruelly, licking his lower lip, which tremble for the strong desire of bursting in laugh.   
He wished he had a chessboard right now in front of him, to see how well all his pieces were positioned on it.   
He knew it, since the begin, that he would succeed. The hunters were positioned, all his pawns, to kill kitsune, Cade’s pawns.  
Shinichi and Misao the tower and bishop Henry stole from Sybil. They would prevented those bunch of fools to follow Cade to Mystic Falls, then Dorian would play his flute to make them sleep for the eternity.   
He won, he did. No Hell on Earth, no bright future, no Sybil who chose to love another man over him.

“You’re a man who knows no law, aren’t you Henry ?” Asked Stefan behind him.

“I told you, once you broke God’s rules, man’s ones have not meaning for you” answered Henry.

Where was he ? Oh right, Sybil. Why couldn’t he stop to think about her ?   
Why, after everything happen between them, was she still tormenting his mind ?  
A forgotten queen of a kingdom of bones, whose eyes could lead the purest of men in Hell, whose voice was the sweet promise of an eternal sin.  
Why ? Why lust wasn’t enough, and love was too much ?  
You could buy lust in a brothel, savor it on the lips of a prostitute, find it between her wet thighs.   
Love instead was the sweet melody of any poetry, you could find it even in the heart of despicable creature.  
Love, sweet, cruel love, that was a terrible burden, even stronger than his greedy.   
How wonderful would have been if she shared the victory with him. If she loved him over Cade.   
The perfect woman of malfeasance that made him greedy of love. A burning, insatiable hunger of tenderness, that was what he was seeking from her. He loved her for her sinful soul, the only one who saw purity in sin and innocence in their sensual dance. She represented a sanity that he’d only found in God before.   
The Lady of love for his childish heart.

“Down speechless, I must admit. I like the coherency in your actions. You knew your family wouldn’t satisfy you and you didn’t let your family tears to persuade you” said Stefan “You’re still thinking about her, though”

“I’m afraid I will think about her forever. My heart is sore and my mind couldn’t think about any woman but her, but she lost and my greedy won. If she’d chose me, I would have spared her.”

“You chose power over love” stated Stefan.

“You’re talking like this because Klaus is your first love and because you two are still in the honeymoon of your relationship. When this step is over, you will see Klaus less and less perfect any day. No love is made to last. We’ve made to see perfection where we didn’t see it before. Once we saw it, we get tired and begin to look for something new, something that can still be discovered in all its shades”

“And then why do you still think about Sybil after all this time ?” Asked Stefan crossing his arms.

“Because Sybil’s love is a taste that will remain strange on my tongue” he said licking his lip “She didn’t love me, not enough to screw Cade over and be with me. The curiosity of her utterly devotion will always be a mystery for me. Maybe it’s good this way. What if she had loved me, and I would have got tired of her after few months ? In the end, she made sure that I will never stop to earn her”

“I don’t think you really thing this” said Stefan.

More than to be sure, Stefan hoped.  
Henry was older than him and wiser. He knew more about immortality than Stefan himself. He lived all the experience Stefan would like making himself.  
Henry knew love in all its shades, from the lighter to the darker, all its tastes, from the sweeter to the more bitter. He knew the savory taste of tears of disappointment and the destructive maddening pain of a broken heart.  
Stefan didn’t think he would ever meet someone with so many emotions inside his heart again.   
Although he wasn’t convinced that his love for Sybil was healthy. He may would never openly admit, but he was sure that Henry was simply affected by the Oedipus complex.   
Henry was a child when Sybil kidnapped him and since Henry needed a maternal figure, he transferred his love for Esther to Sybil and he believed to love her, maybe wandering to have sex with her, as Freud stated.   
If Sybil hadn’t encouraged any sort of physical relationship with him, Henry’s erotic drive would have disappeared with time, because a child’s erotic drive should remain fantasy and nothing more.  
Sybil wasn’t a mother, she had no idea how to take care a child and that was the result. A passionate unhealthy obsession.  
He didn’t feel the same for Klaus, it wasn’t an illusion, what he felt for Klaus was real and wanted. It wasn’t a simple physiological process. He didn’t see his father or Damon in Klaus and he already knew all his faults and wasn’t blind to them.  
Klaus was his first love and that enough made him important and unforgettable, not matter how bad ti could end.   
Stefan didn’t want to live in fear anymore, he wanted to live any sensation fully, he wanted to love and be loved, he wanted to taste the live completely. He wanted to escape darkness and live under the light of God.   
Which path was safer than the one where God lead you toward ?   
Stefan lived following Lord’s words, even when he killed in the name of Cade, he tried to resist temptation of the red nectar of his Gluttony. He tried to be a good person, a good father, chasing to forgive and love his enemy.  
Stefan could have killed Henry or at least try to hurt him, to yell at him how he hated him for what he did to him, but Stefan didn’t. He didn’t want to.  
Henry was dominated by his passion and that alone was a reason to pity him.   
‘Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much’. Oscar Wilde understood everything about life.  
Henry preferred to condemn himself into an existence of depravation, loneliness and sin, that alone was a punishment to atone all his crimes. Also, Stefan was tired of holding grudge, he was tired of the burning hatred that made the world so uglier to look at.   
He wanted to live seeing beauty and perfection and that world of fire was only a cage.  
He wanted to feel and dominate them and his hunger.  
There was nothing more entertaining than tasting something which others became addicted to, and you not.   
Dominate your appetite was only the first step to feel more like a superior creature, than like a best.  
That was what he learnt from Cade. That was where Henry failed.

“Beauty, everyone wants to live and taste beauty, once you have practical things, less beauty, more useful. I can understand you nonetheless”

“You won’t be happy, Henry. I only hope that my forgiveness worthy something for you”

“Your forgiveness is everything it counts for me in this moment”

“Really ? Who’s evil can only see the worst in others. Do you trust my word ?”

“It’s pointless. I trust that you’re a devoted father, determinate to live a normal existence and now that you know who’s going to win this match, you will be careful about your next actions and words. Honesty is something I can finally concede to you”

"Honesty is one of the things we have left. We are dead, even in our immortality. We've been struggling each day of our lives for something that we could only have in future. In the end we reduced ourself to nothing but dreams of dust. We killed our humanity in order to have an imaginary immortal freedom. We're not broken, or damaged, if we were, we existed but we don't."

"We're only shadows in a body that didn't even belong to us anymore... We've been living of dreams..." agreed Henry with tears in his eyes.

Stefan was going to speak again, when Klaus came back into the cave followed by Eri.

After Henry’s words, Klaus needed some air and to stay alone and Stefan asked to Eri to accompany him and protect him in case Cade, or his kitsune, appeared.

“How much longer will we have to wait ?” Asked Klaus.

“Cade like big entrances. He’s coming. He can’t feel us, but I can feel him getting closer.” Said Stefan.

“So, this is the showdown isn’t it ?” Asked Klaus.

“Yes” answered Stefan “Finally we all will be free, in Heaven or Hell, dead or alive. We all will get what we deserve”

“Wise words, my dear”

Everyone, except Klaus, smirked. They knew he was here and they turned toward him.  
Arcadius, the first psychic.  
Cade, the Master of Hell.  
A God among the supernatural creature.  
A king among the dead.  
A Legend among the brave.  
A doom among the sinners.  
The essence of any nightmare.  
The color of any passion.  
The taste of any sin.  
The pride of any man.  
The lust of any greed.   
Henry licked his lower lip.  
Stefan allowed the Ripper to smile at his place, while he was looking at Cade with his eyes.  
Eri bite his lower lip, letting the blood ran toward her chin.  
Klaus looked at a monster that couldn’t be more human.

“Sorry for being late, gentlemen and miss, I was preparing a sweet death for all of you”


	47. Players

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “That's just the point: an honest and sensitive man opens his heart, and the man of business goes on eating - and then he eats you up.”   
> ― Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Crime and Punishment

**CHAPTER 47**

 

Moments of silence followed that slight menace. No one dared to speak, no one dared to look away, no one dared to run away. No one feared the incarnation of their personal Hell.   
Cade, the Psychic Emperor of Hell.  
Henry, the Sorcerer Master of Guile.  
Stefan, the Vampire Ripper of Monterey.  
Eri, the Kitsune Princess of Darkness.  
Klaus, the Hybrid fallen King of Vampires.  
In that cavern the marvel of the underworld had gathered.  
The killer smiled at the thief.  
The liar greeted the tricker.  
A little hidden, but sin were among them. No light, no true, no purity.   
All the shades of darkness were there, all the creatures who adored the moon over the sun. All the creatures whose fate were chained on the Earth, because Heaven was denied.   
How lovely would be to stop the time in that moment, so that anyone could have a taste of the darkness it liked the most.  
The prideful passionate one of the Devil.  
The malicious attractive one of the Master.  
The kind destructive one of the Ripper.  
The impetuous dominating one of the Princess.  
The bittersweet painfully one of the Fallen King.  
Shinichi was the silently witness to an announced tragedy.

  
“Gentlemen of sin my heart is sore. I would never think this day to come. The only cure for my shatter heart is to kill the one who broke it” said Cade making some steps, then he looked at Stefan “Why ? What cruelty did I commit to you to deserve such painful wound from you ?”

“I wish I it was me to hurt you. I wish you suffered more. I wish I was the real Prodigal Son”

“Aren’t you ?” Asked Cade with irony “What didn’t I give you ? What of my gift was not enough to satisfy your Gluttony ? A perfect Immortality ? A limitless power ? The pleasure of living in your gluttony without no one to reprove you ? No one to talk about you, no one able to hurt you. No one able to judge you. Only your heart to know everything about your soul”

“My heart knows how my soul is dark. I admit my shame to myself, I don’t care how many people will know. What you gave to me wasn’t a perfect Immortality. I can die, and I can be hurt, I can be defeat. I can bleed and feel pain. What you gave to me is a torture, not a bless. A limitless power to play God, but I don’t want to be a God myself. You’ve been trying to make me errand and lose the faith in God, but I do know I’m human myself”

“Human ? You ceased to be human a long time ago. You have the body of the worst predator and the soul of purest of angel. It wasn’t me who made you less human. You were a high being, I wanted to elevate even more”

“Murder doesn’t elevate someone, It reduces him to a beast. I killed to satisfy your voracity. I’m not going to do it anymore. If I kill someone, I will do because I want it, not in your name”

Klaus and Eri smiled, both of the proud for Stefan’s words.   
He wasn’t scared of Cade, he wasn’t afraid of answer him back, he didn’t falter when he stated how Cade hurt him with his gift.  
Stefan didn’t want those gifts that showed the demon inside him. There was almost anything more of human inside his heart, but Stefan would fight for that part of himself.  
He would fight for his freedom, for his free will, he would chose by himself what he considered good or evil, right or wrong.   
Henry was observing him, silently.   
He was looking a young man, whose eyes were telling a story of pain, hope, loneliness and desire of redemption. Stefan was everything Henry would like to be. But it was too late for him. Henry’s heart was too dark, too cold, unaffected by the trivial, annoying touch of love.   
He looked at Cade, at the man he used to love once, the tyrant he was going to dethrone, the human being he wanted to destroy, and the only voice he could hear was the one of his own naughtiness, that was pushing him to intervene and finally brake Cade’s heart.

“You’re an excellent example of ingratitude. I’m so tempted of taking all your powers away and then kill you and resurrect you, over and over again, making you feel like a useless, powerless, worthless worm. But I won’t. I still need you, for complete my plans”

He snapped his fingers, then Shinichi appeared behind him, dragging Matt with him.  
Klaus and Stefan gasped, recognizing who the guy was, worried about what Cade could have done to him.  
Henry remembered him as well, but he wasn’t worried at all. One victim more, or less, it didn’t make such a difference for him.

“A little hidden, not to expose your shame to sun, this will be your grave” he said no one n particular “With the man, the Bell and the Devil, here is not the place for any religion. After all you’ve been through, do you still want to pursue your goal ?”

“Henry, how can you ask me such question ?” Asked Cade “We’re living in a dark Era, it’s true. I don’t believe in redemption…” he said looking at Stefan “… I believe in punishment. There’s no punishment efficient enough to erase darkness inside a person. Bad people exists only to suffocate the beauty with their ignorance. When they recognize the purity in someone, they’re tempted to ruin it, to mark it with their darkness. It’s not fair”

“Isn’t it what you was trying to do with Stefan ? What you did to Henry ?” Asked Klaus.

“Stefan’s soul would have been damaged beyond repair if it wasn’t for me. His father, Damon, the human’s cruelty gave born to the Ripper. I knew the Ripper would always exist, so I tried to create a balance. As it happen with you, Klaus. Both Stefan and Ripper think and desire the same thing, so they no longer are two different personalities, but one. If he had never made the deal with him, Stefan would wasted his life struggling and surrendering to the Ripper over and over again. Think about it, Niklaus.”

“Think about what ?”

“You loved them both once. You saw something in the Ripper worthy of your love, and something in Stefan worthy of your disgust, when other consider them simply as the good and the evil. You love them, because you see the amazing creature they create together.”

Stefan bite his lower lip. Maybe Cade wasn’t so much insane. After all, the Ripper was his psychological response to a life spent in limitations, masks, duties, self prohibitions.   
The Ripper said, thought, did the things Stefan didn’t dare.  
Maybe the Ripper even dared to love Klaus before Stefan.   
Was Cade right ? Would have he struggled against the Ripper ? Would have he deprived himself of the desire of love ? Would have he lived into a forced chastity, loving a woman instead of a man ? Keeping his secrets inside a wounded heart divided into two ?   
Was what the Ripper was trying to tell him too ?   
Would have he found and lost redemption for his sins ?   
Were him and the Ripper just one now ?  
The Ripper was the only one who knew everything about him.   
It was the part of him that pushed him to do his best at anything, to prove himself that he could be something more, to prove that not matter how hard his life was, he could always win in the end.

“We created nothing” he said “We… I’m simply who I should have always been. A boy who love poetry, who wants to save people with medicine, who wants protect people he loved killing his enemies. Who wants to give his heart to a man” then he took Klaus’ hand.

The blond tight the grip, trying to give strength to the other. Cade was obvious disgusted by that sight. He wished to rip their hand and push them down their throat. Henry rolled his eyes. He had to admit that he didn’t like being ignored, specially in the middle of his masterplan, where everyone should congratulate or yell at him for his grandeur.   
It really bothered him that Cade was convinced that Stefan, and not him, was responsible of the current situation.  
Stefan was an amateur compared to him.   
Henry felt insulted. Should he put an end on his lie now ? Should he reveal the truth ? Or should he let Cade drown more in his own stupidity ?  
Didn’t Cade see himself in his eyes ?  
Wasn’t he, Henry Knight, the successor of the Devil ?  
His cruel logic won Cade’s passion.   
He was Zeus who defeated Cronus. Stefan was only the intolerant Prometheus who chained his soul to save his ideals, and Damon of course.  
In Henry’s opinion, no one was so important to prolong a life of misery and pain, but yourself. Henry prolonged his agony only to see this moment to happen.

“Divergence of opinions”

“But you’re right. Here no one knows anything about me” said Stefan “if you did… Well I guess you’ll find out anyway.”

Eri smiled with sadness. Her otōsan wasn’t an open book to her, as she usual flattered herself. There were so many things she had still discovered about her otōsan, all the brightest shades that the Hell have been oppressing all those years. She hadn’t seen how her otōsan looked like when he was happy, when he laughed for something he considered really fun, when he was free of any agony or sufferance.   
Eri wanted to see the man she loved with all her heart, happy for the rest of his existence. She wanted to share with her the best the life could still offer to them. Any joyful passion or moment.

“Do you know, my dear ? I have another speciality, that I put aside for an opportunity like this” said Cade “Confession is not only an instrument for forgiveness”

Henry blinked, suddenly more curious about this ability. Cade’d never talked about this ability. Confession ? Wasn’t like using compulsion and oblige other to confess anything to you ?

As if he reading his mind, Cade answered “Confession increased the sense of shame, pain and guilty the more the target confesses his crime. Now confess, confess everything you’ve done”

“I confess that I’ve never believed in your… ideals…” said Stefan trying not to speak “… That I… I hoped you to die a long time ago… That I despised your touch almost as your gifts…”

Stefan was sure that Henry was considering that pathetic scenario very entertaining. Stefan who confessed Cade an hatred that belonged to the sorcerer too.  
He dared to look at the other, for few seconds, and he was surprised to notice that Henry looked pretty annoyed, maybe even flustered.   
Why wasn’t he glad of the outcome ?  
What in the situation was disturbing him ?  
Henry gritted his teeth and pushed his nails inside the flesh of his palms.   
Why didn’t Cade tell him about this ability ? How couldn’t he share this other information with him =  
Apparently Henry’s manipulation had been less perfect than Henry believed it was.   
Apparently his plan was flawless, because if Cade used the ability on him before, he would have spilled all the truth and then who knew what would have happen to him.  
Shit…  
He should have suspected that Cade had an ace up his sleeve, maybe even more than one. Maybe he lied about more than one thing.   
For the moment he couldn’t do anything. He wanted to analyze the extent of the effect of this new ability, if there was, actually, any other ability, before to intervene and kill Cade once and for all.  
No more mistakes were allowed, no more reckless moves. If he wanted to win, now it was the time to remain calm and observe the situation. Then, only then, he would make his move.

…

_Chicago Roaring Twenties…_

_How could beauty be so good at hiding ugliness ?_   
_That was what Henry was wondering to himself while he was there, at Gloria’s, drinking some drinks occasionally._   
_The liquor, an insignificant temptation, specially for someone who couldn’t get drunk._   
_A temptation was such, only if it was wrong, only if you knew that there was a cost to pay to enjoy a bit of it._   
_Hunters couldn’t get drunk. They had to have a sober conduct, because power was the only poison they needed._   
_Furthermore, alcohol always failed to tempt Henry._   
_How could people consider hangovers fun ?_   
_Throwing up souls wasn’t attractive. Sick people whose faces looked like a terminal ill didn’t make them desirable._   
_Henry was attracted only by pretty things, that everyone would want and only he could have._   
_Or things that other had thrown away and who would like to have back the same moment he took them._   
_People would throw away a lot of things if they didn’t fear someone else to take them._   
_Oscar Wild was perfectly right about it._   
_To get rid of Cade, he would have shown away his immortality, his powers and his eternal youth if he didn’t fear that someone else would take his place, as happen with Sybil._   
_Henry knew that it was or him or Sybil. One of them had to leave Hell and giving up on half, if even more, of their privileges. Henry wound never recover from the trauma of seeing someone have or be what or who he used to be._   
_Stefan took Sybil’s place in the hierarchy, or he was going to._   
_The favorite._   
_The pupil._   
_The lover._   
_Poor Sybil with her little broken heart… If Henry didn’t resent her, he would feel almost sad for her._   
_Well, cruelty was a privilege and a cure for heartbroken._   
_He was going to order another drink when he noticed a group of beautiful girls who were winking at him, probably they hoped he would notice them and asked them to dance._   
_‘Sorry, ladies. I only dance Danse Macabre’ he thought using his powers to know their sins._

_“My my… you are all bad girls… Seduction… Deception… Lies… Bad habits… Maybe I will kill you… or maybe…”_

_Whatever he was going to whisper to himself lost any importance in the moment he felt the presence of another Hunter near him. He smirked and forgot about the drink he wanted to order._   
_Finally, that was the moment he’d been waited for at least a century. Finally he was going to meet the most important piece on his chessboard._   
_The Prodigal Son… Stefan Salvatore. A name marked in his skin, a name marked in his fate and Cade’s as well._   
_Henry had fantasized for a long time about him, his face, his personality. According to his spies, Stefan Salvatore was an handsome young vampire, polite, kind, asocial, with tendencies to manipulation, self harming and isolation._   
_Stefan Salvatore was the player he’d been waiting to play tight._   
_Unpredictable…_   
_Sentimental..._   
_Ruthless_   
_Cruel…_   
_Brilliant…_   
_Smart…_   
_Henry was a good competitor himself. He never lost his cool, even under particularly stressful situations. He was capable of elaborating long terms plans, predicting any possible outcome and manipulating situation to make it happen the one he liked the most._   
_‘What kind of a player you are ? Mr Salvatore ?’ He thought in his head._   
_‘Who wants to know it ?’ He heard asking someone else with telepathy._

_“What a brute, invading and spying my mind like that…” he commented touching his hair “He also made me wait a lot for him.”_

_Then he saw a young gentleman, who entered in the club trying to look confident, but it was clear that he didn’t enter in clubs so ofter. The boy was feeling out of place._   
_His lips were slightly pouting and he looked bored. Maybe ti was part of his charm. He was looking at people around him like he was doing them a favor by only being there._   
_Interesting…_   
_Henry liked him._   
_‘Look around you… find me’ thought Henry._   
_‘I accept the challenge’._   
_The young guy was smiling. Probably he liked challenges, maybe he was enterprising. He hoped, because he really needed someone to play with._   
_He needed an equal, someone who would be able to surprise him. Someone whose mind was nothing but a puzzle ready to be solved._   
_Immortality was so damn boring when reality became nothing but an old story that repeated itself over and over again. Same characters with different faces and names, same settings in different ages, old lies pronounced with new languages._   
_Always. The. Same._   
_Stefan Salvatore looked different._   
_Henry noticed that he completely ignored all the beautiful ladies who were looking at him, politely declining any attempt at conversation on their part, he was still looking for him._   
_Probably his powers were confusing by all the sins inside the room. Finding an Hunter inside a room full of sinners wasn’t easy, specially if the other Hunter was stronger, older or better at hiding. Comparing to Stefan Salvatore, Henry was all the three things._   
_Henry was intrigued._   
_What kind of strategy Stefan was going to use to find him ?_   
_Hunters knew only each other’s names, but not their faces. In crowded places like those, it was difficult finding each other._   
_Stefan didn’t even know what kind of creature the other Hunter was, Henry instead knew that he was a vampire._   
_Henry wasn’t sure if a vampire was his choice, but vampires and sirens had a lot of things in common._   
_Suddenly, Stefan used compulsion on a couple, making them believe that they had met once and that they were friends._   
_Henry narrowed his eyes. Hunters couldn’t hunt in the same territory. It was a clear rule that stated that if two hunters were int he same town for more than twenty four hours they had to fight. The winner stayed, the loser left._   
_Henry didn’t think that Stefan would be so stupid to use his powers in front of so many people, or to convince that couple to leave the club, only to kill them somewhere else and risking to remain alone with another Hunter._   
_He looked more the diplomatic type._

_“What are you going to do…. Brother ?” Asked Henry._

_Stefan was smiling charmingly to the couple and at some point he gently gripped the lady’s hand and whispered something to her._   
_Henry wished he was a vampire to listen what he was telling the woman. What he knew for sure, was that Stefan wasn’t using compulsion this time._   
_He noticed the man getting tense while the woman was covering her mouth with her hands, looking pretty embarrassed._   
_Stefan started to talk to the man this time._

_“He didn’t look so talkative few minutes ago.” Commented Henry with a pout “I’m getting boring. He’s supposed to look for me, not to find new friends.”_

_Suddenly the woman slapped her husband hard, she stood up and began to scream “How couldn’t you tell me you’ve had a son with another woman before our wedding ? How many sluts did you sleep with ?”_

_“And you ? When did you think to confess me about that little brat you’ve having an affair ? Stop pointing your dirty finger at me, you slut !”_

_“What the hell…” Henry wasn’t understanding anything anymore._

_‘I hope you’re enjoying the little show I put on for you. Dear’,_   
_said Stefan’s voice in his head._   
_Henry gasped. So that little charade was to caught his attention._

_“Brilliant” he commented._

_Hunters couldn’t kill people who were in the territory of another Hunter, but they could use their abilities to torture people or, in this case, to caught the attention of another hunter._   
_What Stefan had communicated to the couple were the sins committed by the other._   
_He revealed to the woman of her husband’s infidelity and about his bastard son._   
_Instead he told the man that his wife had been having an affair with a younger man._   
_The Roaring Twenties was such a scandalous period, where any kind of inhibitions were destroyed by the sweet and sour taste of the alcohol, the false joy of the music, the glitz of a worldly life and the illusion of an never-ending entertainment._   
_He looked at Stefan and he noticed that he was looking at the couple with the same pout. Probably he considered human sins boring or predictable as well._

  
_“Don’t you dare… I’ve known you were a nullity since the first moment I met you. I knew you loved another woman, but at least I hoped you would have done a better job to hide such shame, to protect our reputation !”_

_She tried to hit him again, but her husband grabbed her wrist with strength, almost dislocating it, “You’re practically admitting to be nothing but a climber. You’ve never loved me either. You simply allowed me to knock you up so that you could lock me into a meaningless marriage with you.”_

_Stefan grabbed one of the drinks, the one the man was drinking before, and drank it. Then he put it on the table and got out from the club. Henry looked at him confused._   
_Where was he going ? Shouldn’t Stefan look for him ?_   
_Meanwhile, the two spouses didn’t cease to fight, also they raised their voices word after word at the point that Gloria, the owner of the club, asked the to get out since they were disturbing her clients._   
_The couple nodded, then went out._   
_Everyone concentrated again on music, alcohol and useless chat but Henry could feel the tension between the two supposes and he could see, in the man eyes, an animalistic desire that no husband should have in his eyes._   
_Henry was going to have fun, he knew it for sure now._   
_He left some bills on the table and followed the two spouses out of the club._   
_The two supposes walked in silent, but the tension between them could be cut with a knife and Henry could feel It on his skin._   
_Henry had followed the spouses an entire hour before that the husband grabbed his wife by the arm and dragged her in a dark alley._   
_He pushed her against a wall and grabbed her by her throat._

_“It’s only because of you… If I can’t be married with the woman I love and our son… My family didn’t allow me to marry her and now…”_

_Henry noticed that the man was crying and the woman was trembling, he couldn’t say if for fear or anger._

_“I wish I loved you, I wish I cared for you but your love for me had been nothing but a trick. You are an obstacle between me and my happiness…”_

_The woman bursted in laughs and said “Ah ah ah, am I the cause of your misery ? Don’t think so. You don’t trust anyone, You’ve spent your life in the diffidence, you will never be happy. I tell you why you left your former… girlfriend. It was because you believed she was carrying the child of another man”_

_“How do you…”_

_“To marry you I had to know everything about you. I knew about this other woman, I knew that you would have never married me if she remained in the picture. So I simply increased the doubt you had already installed in your heart. I only wanted your money and now I have.”_

_“What ? So… You only…”_

_“Since this is the moment of revelations, it’s fair to say that me and my lover have been planning to running away together… with all your money. You will be nothing but a pathetic penniless man. You’re family will disinherit you for the shame and…”_

_The woman couldn’t finish her sentence, that the man screamed, until it consumed all the air in his lungs. More than a screamed, it was the roar of a fair, the roar of a man whose world was falling down in one night, in front of his eyes, without he could do anything to fix it._   
_It was the cry of a creature in front of the cruelty of life._   
_It was the cry of a man in front of the injustice of his life, in a moment when he felt that even God no longer loved him._   
_People sad that there should be a sense of freedom and peace when the wall of lies finally fall in from of your eyes, when your eyes could look through hedge and you could finally look the mess of your life in its entirety, any single detail._   
_Unfortunately, not everyone appreciated what they saw._   
_It was the case of the man, who began to yell and scream at his wide, grabbing her by her neck and pushing her head against the wall with all his strength._   
_The poor woman tried to defend herself, she even scratched his face with her long and cured nails, but his wrath completely blinded him, at the point that he didn’t even feel the pain._   
_He even punched her, making her fall on the ground and there he continued to kick her on the stomach over and over again._   
_Henry was used to assist to this kind of scene, to feel even the slight sense of disgust toward the man._   
_An unfaithful climber wife was rubbish as much as the coward disgusting man that was killing her._   
_Henry saw no victim between the two, only trash that destroyed other trash. Violence was the favorite answer of men in front of their problems. Their brain worked not over the limit of their instinct. Once the instinct chose to prevail, there was no rationality, no logic, everything that made man a superior creature was erased._   
_Henry sneered. At least he wasn’t getting bored._   
_But why did Stefan want him to see this ? What was the point ? What was his intention ?_   
_The man kicked and hit his wife until he was sure she was dead. Only then the wrath disappeared, leaving place to the despair and the knowledge of having become a murderer._   
_It occurred one victim to create a new murder, that was another constant in the universe._   
_An Hunter had only kill sinners to erase evil from Earth, but the man didn’t commit any sin before, at least no one that made him worthy of burning in Hell._   
_Was that Stefan’s goal ? Create a sinner that Henry could kill ?_   
_Henry shrugged. He had no problem in killing people anymore._   
_‘No, wait a little longer’ said a voice in his head._   
_Henry frowned but nodded, even though he wasn’t sure Stefan could see him, probably he could, since he’d asked him to stop._   
_Why did he have to wait ? Stefan finally found him. What else did he have to see ?_   
_The man gabbed his head in his hands and fell on the floor in his knees, and there he cried._

_“Why… Why… I didn’t… My son… Murder…” the man was pronouncing disconnected and senseless words “ I don’t deserve to live… I wasted all my opportunity… Sorry…”_

_The man noticed an empty glass bottle, few inches away from his wife’s body. He grabbed it and broke it, then he put his wife’s body in a sitting position near the wall, he sat next to her and grabbed her hands._

_“I simply don’t want to die alone… We’re going in Hell together…” he said kissing her cheek, before cutting his throat with a piece of glass._

_Henry gasped. That was unexpected._   
_He thought that the man would have simply left his wife’s body there in alley, or ran away. Why did he kill himself with a woman he felt nothing but hatred for ?_

_“An homicide suicide… romantic don’t you think ?” Asked a voice behind him._

_Henry didn’t need to turn around to see who the other was. Stefan came closer, until their shoulders could touch and continued to speak._

_“He could have run away, hide his wife’s body. He owned her nothing, she stole everything away from him. We simply underestimated the sense of guilty and the fear a man can feel. He didn’t have anything but his integrity. No son, no woman he loved, no wife, no richness. He can only hope in God’s forgiveness. Death was better than an empty life”_

_“Why didn’t he die alone ? Why did he chose to die next to that woman ?”_

_“Because we all spend our life in pain. A pain only we can understand, that makes us feel alone our entire life. It would be less sad being with someone else before death. Just to have the illusion that someone is willing to take your hand one last time”_

_“Or maybe he simply put on a last facade to make the entire world believe their love was a true fairytale, to save the appearance before his death. At least, he made sure that someone will talk about him.”_

_“Fame before desperation ah ? I disagree.” Said Stefan looking at the other._

_“Did you think he would have ran away ?” Asked Henry._

_“I was sure. This outcome surprised me as much as you. But, it’s the only that makes sense. There’s no reason worthy of prolonging a life of pain. What would have be his life after this ? His world ceased to exist tonight, there would be no happiness for him. No light, not second chances. You can’t have back what you gave up once.”_

_“Are you talking about him or you now ?”_

_“I’m simply realizing that I’ve just given him what I want for myself. A double death. I don’t want to die alone, I’ve spent my whole life in loneliness. I simply hope not to die alone.” answered Stefan lowering his gaze “Nice introduction anyway. I’m Stefan Salvatore”_

_Henry smiled with sincerity then he said “I’m Henry Prince, but I’m planning to change my last name very soon. I’m getting bored of this”_

_“It’s cute. My original plan was setting free the inner darkness of both, seeing which one of the two would surrender first to the darkness and kill the other. It was my challenge. Prove to another hunter that I can hunt in his territory even without killing the sinners myself”_

_“It was a good plan !” Exclaimed enthusiastically “So you’re responsible for the woman’s death. She was the principal sinner, since she’s deceiving her husband since their first met and was actually planning of robbing him. You couldn’t kill her, so you pushed her husband under a so stressful situation to make him kill her for you. What a devil”_

_“I wasn’t sure. It could have been her to kill him. I was open minded and nevertheless he managed to surprised me. At least I surprised you as well. Are you offended ?”_

_“Not, you gave me exactly what I was hoping for…”_

_Henry grabbed Stefan hand and put it on his shoulder then he took the other too and began to dance._

_“A little Dance Macabre. It’s the only dance I know” said Henry with an embarrassed smile._

_“Yeah, me too. I usually dance more with death than with real people. That was why I entered in Gloria’s. It’s not something I usually do”_

_“Do you want to come back ?” Asked Henry._

_“Maybe. I like looking at people. I like observing other people’s life. I like how the live their lives at the best or waste them. I like pretending, for once, that I could be part of this world, that I can maybe fell people’s joy, over than their pain. I want to see beauty instead than…”_

_“Than ?”_

_Stefan closed his eyes, he put his head on Henry’s shoulder and thought about his life._   
_Murders._   
_Arsonists._   
_Rapists._   
_Thieves._   
_Serial Killer._   
_Scammers._   
_Lustful._   
_Liars._   
_Careerists._   
_Monsters._   
_Those were the kind of people he was surrounded by. He’d killed hundreds, thousands of criminals and in them, he’d seen how much world was cruel, reality hard and destiny unfair. No beauty. No wonder. No light. And in the end, their pain was his pain, he lived their same tragedy._   
_He wanted to remember all the beauty in the world. It helped to keep him mind sane._   
_How an husband hugged his wife._   
_How a man fought for his true love._   
_How a girl blushed for his boyfriend’s compliments._   
_How a mother smiled to her children._   
_How a father taught his children everything he knew about life._   
_How men and women struggled for their happiness, how they smiled, laughed, loved, lived._   
_How they lived the live he wanted for himself._   
_It was always refreshing seeing someone smiling even after the end of a bad day._   
_They gave him hope._

_“I feel something special when I see the realizing their dreams. I’m an Hunter, I’m suppose to judge and kill them because of their crimes. If I don’t, I will die. So, they die because I want to survive. It wears me out. It makes me feel like a parasite.”_

_“You shouldn’t. You speak like this because you’re new, but I can say that it will improve with time. This is power after all. You chose who lives and who dies. We feed on their pain, but we can turn it in power. Don’t forget it. More important, don’t feel involved. There’s a reason why we consider ourselves simply observants. Our human emotions can drive our decisions and make us commit errors. We can watch humans how much we want, but we can’t take part in the play of their lives. It will be easier this way if or when we kill them.”_

_“I know. Isolation is efficient. Loneliness on the other hand is… well… is.a little price to pay, but worthy. Believe me, it’s better prolonging a life of loneliness instead of trying to live among men, only to realize how inept you at living.”_

_“Inept ?”_

_“Observing other live their lives and living yourself is a complete different matter. Someone who’d spent too much time observing, realizes not to be able to live only when he actually tries it. You realizes to have forgotten how to speak with people, how to do even the simple tasks without feeling like a fool. And in the end depression will be a bless compared to your own existence.”_

_“That explains more things that I would prefer. Practically you’re saying to me that, not matter what, even if I find my soul to save, I will never be able to live a normal life again”_

_“You’re a vampire, you would have lived a life of lies anyway. No connections, no bounds, no masks. Lies hurt more than truth even though they’re more convenient. You can always get away with a good lie, but not get away from the truth”_

_“I want to drink. I want to have an hungover or good imagines I will remember. I want remember smiles, kisses, a good night. Would you come with me ?”_

_Henry blinked few times._   
_He didn’t expect Stefan to be that way._   
_He expected someone able to fully enjoy the new powers he had, someone who considered himself luck to be one of the strongest creature in the world. Someone who’d already understood how useless was spending his time on inferior creatures like humans._   
_Why brooding over something you could not understand ?_   
_Human were so cryptic in their simplicity._   
_They wanted money, power and fame. They conceded these three things with perfection and happiness._   
_Their life was boringly simply, that was why they enjoyed making it complicated._   
_He had no interest in understanding them, but he enjoyed playing with them as they were nothing but marionettes he had strings up._   
_He enjoyed setting scenes that he could enjoye or hate, he enjoyed predictability, he enjoyed how things go his way._   
_But Stefan… with his feelings, his sentimentalism, his… humanity… was unpredictable. Dangerous, even._   
_Henry liked him a whole fucking lot._   
_Cade would never tame him, never control him, never subjugate him._   
_Stefan was going to give him enough time to pursue his masterplan and not only, he was also quite interesting Probably someone Henry could get along easily._   
_Stefan was brilliant, pragmatic, inventive, creative, subdue. He liked him, Stefan was the piece he need to finally win his war. To finally be free of Cade._

_“Stefan Salvatore… You’re quite interesting… I would love spending the rest of the night with you.”_

  
_…_

Misao dine’t believe she could have so much fun with that bunch of losers. They were good opponents, at least most of them. The vampires could compete with her with their strength and they were also faster than her, the witches could compete with their magic, and the two humans were good with those weapon of them.  
She also knew why, for the moment, she didn’t turn herself into her fox form. The little Hunter brat, was absorbing part of her sins, so that she didn’t have enough energy to turn herself into a fox.   
Pity… She was a kitsune, Queen of tricks, and that tedious brat was an amateur compared to her.   
She grabbed Rebekah’s wrist, then she put an hand on her shoulder and managed to make her fall on the ground.   
She punched Kol in the face, dislocating his jaw and then kicked him on the stomach.  
Elijah proved to attack her from behind, while Caroline tried to attack her in the front. She kicked Caroline on her waist, then grabbed both her and Elijah from their wrist and used them as shield to protect herself from Alaric and Elena’s attacks.  
She used Hellfire to distract Bonnie and Freya, who was trying to perform an offensive spell. Dorian used his flute to absorb the Hellfire.

“Waruku wanai, akachan” (Not bad kiddo) she said to Dorian.

“Watashi wa seitōna aite ni narou to suru” (I try to be a valid opponent)

“Watashi ni onaji koto o yurushite, watashi oh kitsune ni kae sasete kudasai” (Allow me to do the same, let me turn into a fox)

“Dorian, what’s she telling you ?” Asked Freya.

“She’s losing” said Dorian trying to play his flute again but Misao had a surprise for him.

She repeated the same trick Cade used before, she invoked Hellfire from Dorian’s flute, whom lost the grip on it and let it fall on the ground.   
She smirked. Now that Dorian couldn’t play the flute anymore, she could turn herself in her fox form and she did.  
She was a kitsune of sky and the night sky tonight, with the skies and full moon, was on her side.  
Her thin arms, her slim body, her long legs… she completely turned herself into a red fox with all her nine tails.   
Dorian looked at her with resentment and pouting, Once the transformation was activated, not even him could revert it with his flute.   
Now they could only kill her, if they wanted to win. Unfortunately, Dorian knew that Misao had a twin, and when you wanted to kill a twin everything became more complicated, because you had to kill both of the kitsune and made sure they died at the same moment, together.   
There was only a way to be sure that something like this happen.   
He used his magic to retrieve the flute.

“Mother, the situation requires a little trip in Hell” he said to Freya creating a portal with the flute.

“What ? Do you think I will let you go there alone ?” Asked Freya “I come with you”

“Maybe it’s a good idea. With the wheelchair I won’t be able to move fast, with you I will move better in Hell. But I won’t lie, it’s a terrible place to go and…”

Freya grabbed his hand and said “I don’t care. I want go with you. Allow me to protect you, to prove you and I will go through Hell only to keep you safe”

Doran felt moved by her words and smiled “Thank you”

Bonnie didn’t want to interrupt their moment but she asked “Why do you have to go in Hell ?”

“Because there’s only one way to kill a kitsune twin, is to kill the twins at the same time. There only one way to kill them both at the same moment when they are not together. We have to destroy their memory spheres. If we destroy them all, they will both die”

“Is it the only way to kill a kitsune ?” Asked Bonnie.

“The Sin of Regret. Regret can kill a kitsune, but even though we manage to make Misao regret her actions, we won’t be able to do the same with Shinichi. She won’t die, maybe she will kill us anyway”

“God, do you want me to come with you ?”

“No. Kitsune have magic, as witch. Even now she can use it, someone have to protect the others from her magic” answered Dorian.

“Fantastic” commented Bonnie looking at the giant fox “Fine. Good luck”

“Thanks” said Dorian opening the portal to disappear into it with Freya.

Dorian wasn’t at the ape of his happiness, knowing that his mother would come in Hell with him, he was really worried about how things could turn out, but it was the best solution. Hunter or not, he couldn’t walk or ran and if something went wrong, he wouldn’t be able to save himself in time.   
Freya was also a witch, the beasts in Hell shouldn’t be a problem for her.   
Bonnie looked at her friends and acquaintances and even a fool would understand that they were in difficult.   
Misao smirked, Kitsune of sky could create cyclone, fog and used them to trick their opponent.   
Misao created fog with her tails, preventing the other from seeing anything around them. When the fog disappeared, each one of them couldn’t see the other, but only different copies of Misao ready to attack.   
The giant fox was nowhere to be seen.  
‘Kore wa tanoshī koto ni narudarou’ (This is going to be fun), Misao thought, seeing the other attacking each other, thinking to attack her instead.  
Bonnie, who was assisting to that scene, was confused because she was seeing all her friends attack each other, rudely, hardly, aggressively, with the clear intention of kill.

“Why are they behaving like this ? What’s happening ?”

‘Apparently the fog can’t deceive you, good luck to save your friends, little witch”  
Bonnie grabbed her head with her hands. She was sick of hearing strangers voice in her head, she was sure that sooner or later she would get crazy because of this.   
So there was some trick in that fog. Her friends were attacking each other because they saw someone else in from of them, maybe Misao, maybe someone else who they considered an enemy, a threat and what was worst was that Dorian or Freya weren’t there.   
She was the only one who could brake the spell. But how ?

“You’re boring me…” said a voice behind her.

Bonnie didn’t turn around in time to see it coming.  
Misao hit her with one of her tail, throwing her in air and making there her fell on her back on the ground.   
‘Maybe I was just a fool, thinking about you like a good opponent. Maybe I’m simply too much bored’.

“I’m nobody’s entertainment” said Bonnie standing up “I swear that I’m going to kick your ass”

“Try” said a voice behind her.

Bonnie turned around only to be pinched by Elena, who saw Misao in her.   
Elena tried to hit her again, this time with a dagger Alaric had borrowed to her.

“I’m sorry, but I’m doing this for you” said Bonnie using a knock-out spell “Phasmatos Somnus”

Elena fainted behind her, but Bonnie couldn’t let her there. Someone else could see her on the ground and, believe her to be Misao, could attempt to kill her. Bonnie didn’t do in time to grab her friend from behind, that someone grabbed her by her throat and pushed her on the ground.  
Her back, already hurt from the precedent fall, now was a huge sure of sufferance for her.

“Does it hurt ?” Asked Elijah that was suffocating her “It’s nothing compared to the pain your Master’d inflected to me, when he took my brother away from me forever”

“Yes, I guess you’re right. How strange is it, right ? Pain hurts all the time and yet no one can never fully understand someone’s other pain. We all suffer and somehow we’re doomed to suffer alone” said Bonnie, starting to cry.

“What a creature like you could ever understand something like pain ?”

“I wish I didn’t” said Bonnie “Pain is all the power I have left…  
Phasmatos Morsinus Pyrox Allum”

Elijah began to scream from the pain in his head. Bonnie used purposely this offensive spell, useful when she required it quickly and didn’t have the time for mental concentration or like now, when she couldn’t completely focus because she could barely breathe.   
Then she used the same spell she had used to knock Elena out.   
She hated using her magic that way, hurting the people she cared about, but it was the only way to prevent them from hurting each other.   
It didn’t matter how could it hurt, her pain simply didn’t matter, not now. Enzo died, because of an her mistake. She should have found a remedy sooner, she should have known that something was wrong the morning when Enzo’d drugged her. She should have fought for him more.   
She should have fought more for all the pole she loved.  
She could have saved them all, if she tried harder. She didn’t and she payed the consequences.   
Now she couldn’t fail, not when the cost was high.   
Cade wasn’t going to steal someone else from her.  
No one was going to hurt her anymore.   
She would fight for her granny, for her dad, for her mother, for Enzo, for everyone she lost because of the evil.  
‘I see a new light in you, pretty things. Did you finally chose to be a little more interesting ?’.

“Oh yes I did. I’m ready to take you down and you don’t frighten me”

…

Confession was hurting him both mentally and physically. It was like Cade was absorbing his confessions while he was admitting him, just like Stefan himself did to his victims, or Eri when she absorbed his pain.   
It burned and hurt, but it wasn’t a constant pain. It was like different cuts were made on his body, with healed quickly and then reopened.   
Cade was trying his worst, he wanted Stefan to feel humiliated, he wanted him to confess the worst in him in front of Klaus and Eri. He wanted to prove that Stefan hated Cade enough to want him dead, that not matter how good he tried to be, the darkness inside him would remain stronger.   
Eri knee how much Stefan hated Cade for what he did to him, to them. She knew how many times her father desired him death. She knew that her father wasn’t perfect, that he and the Ripper were finally one.   
Maybe he felt like he had nothing to hide and nothing to be ashamed for after long time.   
It was… almost fun…

“Come on…” he said showing the veins on his face, showing in the Ripper fashion “… You can do better. Dare it”

“You’re a masochist. I failed with that too. I tried to make you accept your full potential. Everyone see the saint in Stefan and the devil in the Ripper. Everyone prefer only an half of you, instead I created a perfect balance, and nevertheless you’re far from being flawless”

Ripper had always existed. It was the silent part of him, the part of him that attended in the darkness the moment to come out.   
It was the part that Stefan had feared and had been attracted at the same time. The part he tried so hard to conceal, to avoid people to desire or fear him. To push him away.  
He would have spent all his life or existence fighting against the Ripper, struggling against the voice in his head that continued to repeat him that, even though he made a mistake, it didn’t make him less perfect.  
The Ripper was the part of him that suggested that, even though, for once in his life, he’d been selfish, it was okay, it was perfect, because he lived to be happy, not only to make other people happy.   
He’d spent his whole life… loving and hating that part of himself with equal measure.  
Allowing Ripper to come closer to him only to reject him later.  
Cade created a balance, Tyallah did with her dream. Klaus somehow did.  
If he loved both of them, then now he could loved them at the same time.

…

_Stefan gasped, trying so much to breath the air around him. Why was the silence so suffocating so sudden ?_   
_Why was he here lading alone ? Why there wasn’t anyone else there with him ? Speaking with him ? Telling him that everything would be okay ?_   
_He only needed to woke up, to stand up, to get out that door and see the world as a wonderful place, as he’d never done. As he had to force himself to do._   
_Why was the silent so painful ?_   
_Maybe it was because the silent was the sound of the worst in him. It was when he could feel Ripper’s voice screaming in his head._

_“Let me out, allow me to take control in your life. Nothing you can do to kill me. I will always be the part of you, you’ll ever need”_

_Stefan wanted to hide his tears and tore his ears out of his head not to listen the voices anymore._   
_He wanted to suffocate that part of him that wanted nothing more than another taste…_   
_Taste of what ? Blood, war, pain, sufferance and power._   
_The Ripper wanted those and more. Everything. Always more. He wished to swollen the entire world as Stefan did with his food._

_“I know we want the same, we want one more taste… we want blood, we want to kill… I want to kill… Let me out”_

_Stefan grabbed the pillow with strength. He had to be strong, he had to watch at any move he did._   
_God was watching him, hoping for him to be a good boy._   
_Devil was watching him, laughing at his misery, because he himself was denying the Ripper his greatest pleasure._   
_God… what was He thinking of him ?_   
_What did HE thought about the Ripper ?_   
_Stefan was so terribly hungry that he would even eat himself alive. He wanted blood, he wanted feel the soft flesh under his teeth, he wanted his fangs penetrated the jugular of a young virgin, of a beautiful woman, of an handsome man…_   
_He wanted blood inside his mouth, tasted it as he’d never done before._   
_There was a screaming Gluttony inside him, an insatiable hunger that expected to be satisfied, that expected to be heard, to be felt, to devour him from the inside._   
_Where was God now ?_   
_Where was light now ?_   
_Why couldn’t he simply close his eyes and die ?_   
_No goal or desire was worthy of prolonging a life of suffering abstinence._

_“See ? We’re the same you and I. If you only accept me, accept we’re just one and the same. What I want is what you want. What I fell is what you feel. Don’t even dare to hide, God already knows the monster you are. God will never forgive us, but we can always dance in the Hellfire. No one else would dance with us… Death won’t dance with us”_

_Depression was such an insignificant melody, the soundtrack of a story to tell no one._   
_The story of a vampire who couldn’t drink blood, the story of a forever human boy inside the body of a monster who danced with the Devil under the moonlight._   
_Immortality meant nothing if you didn’t exist for no one._   
_Stefan wished he didn’t exist for himself either._   
_What was the point of going to Church ?_   
_Useless prayers were all he had left to give to God, and still he had Hell to pay._   
_Why ? Could Death welcome into her cold arms and lead him toward another world ?_

_“Is the world always so dark ?” Asked Stefan looking up at the ceiling “Why I see the world in black and grey ? Why I have to live a so useless life ?”_

_The world was such a stranger place for someone who had no part in it. Stefan had no role in his own life, how could he expect to have a place in the world, that his life could have some mean._   
_Black like his blood, grey like his soul._   
_The blood of a sinner. The soul of someone who was lying in the middle._   
_He was in Hell, and yet the fire couldn’t burn his skin._   
_He tried to be the best man he could be and yet God’s grace was far from him._   
_Stefan grabbed the surface of the wooden bedside table, tore off a piece from it, breaking it. Then he sat on bed and used the piece of wood to cut the skin on his left wrist._   
_He smiled when he noticed that he was so empty not to even able to feel pain._

_“Yes, that’s the freaking weirdo you really are. A masochist with no respect of his body and someone who doesn’t respect his body how could respect other’s ? Come one, come on take my hands, allow me to lead you into. Let the world knows about the man who had the devil’s heart in the palms of his hands…”_

_Stefan didn’t realize that he’d pushed the wooden piece so deep inside his wrist at the point of affecting the tendons. Stefan almost hoped his hand not to heal, he didn’t want to use it to hurt no one anymore. All the lines on his hand told the story of a coward monster, who had but the violence as first essence of his life._   
_He put out the wood piece and used to cut the skin on the other arm._   
_Why did his body heal when his soul couldn’t ?_

_“Look at me… the boy who wanted to be a doctor and save lives…” he said almost spitting those words out of his mouth._

_There alone in his bedroom with his shame, there was nothing but blood there to witness his weakness._   
_He licked his blood and then bite his arm, pretending that it belonged to someone else, a person whose name could be written on his wall in Chicago._   
_He looked at the mirror in front of his bed and he didn’t saw his own face in it._   
_He saw a pair of green forest eyes surrounded by black veins, darkness by a cruelty that wasn’t human._   
_He saw lips that were his and at the same time didn’t resemble them. Those lips were smirking. Were licking the blood of his arm with animosity._

_“A Ripper doesn’t stop... I just need one taste… one more taste…”_

_Stefan wanted to scream, wanted not to look at the mirror anymore. He wished he was deaf, he wished he was blind, he wished he could die…_   
_He used the piece of wooden to scratch his cheek, and then to cut his shoulder and let the blood straining the white t shirt he was wearing the blanket on the bed._   
_‘Look father, your golden boy. Look father, the son who’d killed you’ he thought._   
_He didn’t even realized he’d stood up and come closer to the mirror._   
_He put an hand on the surface and the Ripper… not, his reflection did the same, as it was supposed to do. Then why the man on the other side was licking his lips ? And why was he playing with the wounds ? Pushing his fingers inside them only to open them more ?_   
_Why wasn’t the other crying ?_   
_Stefan felt the pain for both, because no one would ever love the Ripper, so no one would ever love him completely._   
_Who would ever love someone with a double personality ?_   
_People were or good or bad._   
_People were perfect or dysfunctional._   
_People were normal or abnormal._   
_People were pure or impure._   
_People were…_

_“No one will ever tell you that it’s good being imperfect.” Said the man tapping the fingers on the other side of the mirror “No one will ever admit their own faults, because everyone prefers to believe in their own perfection. Someone who can’t accept his own faults, how can accept them in someone else ?”_

_“I simply want to be love”_

_“You simply want someone to fill the hole inside you. Violence and blood can fill it. Love will only add more pain. I can’t feel but your desperation. You could never be happy, you could never fill the void inside you. Your blood will always be dark as the night…”_

_To emphasize what he’d just said, the Ripper showed the black blood that was running from his wounds._   
_Stefan gasped and looked at his own blood._   
_Red. Not black. Red._   
_And the Ripper wasn’t real. He was depressed and was having hallucinations. He could still be okay. He simply needed…_

_“One more taste. Just one taste and I will be free again.” Said the Ripper licking his own blood with disgust “You’ve been fighting me your whole life, you even turned your future in the form of abstinence, suicide attempts and a little piece of wood, only to get yourself ride of me, but listen to me carefully. Death only takes your life, not your sins. Your legacy in this world will remain, even though no one will ever be capable to give it a name, or face, just a shape”_

_“I will destroy you… I will destroy you… I will be free of you”_

_“My dear self, you will be free of me when Heaven will be free of Hell. Accept me as part of you. Accept that we’re one and the same. Accept that you want me…”_

_Stefan punched the mirror, breaking his knuckles and let them bleed. What was the point of being careful ?_  
 _His entire existence was an open wound, his life had the color of blood and of night._  
 _He would destroy himself if he could._  
 _There was no point in living a life that didn’t belong to you anymore._  
 _He let the wooden piece fall on the ground, then he took his ring off and went out._  
 _Sunlight would never been so sweet on his skin._  
 _Tender like love, warm like hope, welcoming like death._  
 _Although no one loved him, Death looked pretty found of him._  
 _Death was the only dance he could dance alone._  
…

  
“No one could be flawless, not even… you. I thank you. I’m grateful for what you’ve done for me. I know you’re right, I know that If I find a balance with the Ripper it’s thanks to you. Maybe I really do own you more than I could ever repay… but still… I don’t want the life… you offer to me…”

“I offered you a possibility to live a perfect immortality” whispered Cade.

“You also taught me how important is being able of deciding what is wrong and what is right. You showed me the rotten side of the world. I saw the prime essence of corruption inside the eyes of any victim I killed in your name. I saw innocents people oppressed, feared, scared, mocked… happy when their executioners died because of me. I saw good people letting their inner darkness devouring them and… I saw… I believed… I believe that redemption exists…”

“Redemption doesn’t exist ! Redemption implies a second chance, a new life, forgiveness. No sinner deserves to be forgiven. No sinner is worthy of another chance. He will waste it eventually. Because darkness is a drug, once you tasted it, you become dependent on it. No matter how hard you try to fight it. You can’t be innocent again. Darkness devours taste after taste and reduces your soul to nothing but a misshapen ugly worthless shadow”

“I don’t agree… No everyone refuses redemption if you concede them a possibility”

“My dear boy, that blond poisoned your mind with ideals.”

Henry rolled his eyes. Of course, Cade would say something like that. For Cade was inconceivable that someone could have his own opinions, instead to have the mind obstructed by Cade’s bullshit.   
Nor that Henry believed in redemption.   
Darkness was like a cancer. Incurable.   
It was like a friend. It was always by your side.  
Darkness wasn’t cruel, but it made people cruel. It gave you a possibility to chose her, to welcome or reject her.   
Darkness accepted any faults, or sins, or flaw you could have.  
You didn’t have to be perfect to be accepted by it.   
You didn’t have to turn your grimace of pain into a smile of happiness.  
Darkness didn’t hurt you.  
Darkness didn’t ever leave you.  
In the end it gave you everything you wanted.  
It didn’t make you happy, but less sad and in the end, no one was really happy. True happiness didn’t exist.   
Henry was lost in his thoughts, and so was Klaus. He hadn’t left Stefan’s hand since the begin of the confession and he didn’t want to. But he was hoping that, when Stefan talked about redemption, it was referred to him.  
Klaus would lied if he said that the path he’d chose wasn’t painful, that behave lie a decent man was easy, that he didn’t miss the power he used to have.  
That he was completely reverted to the human naive man he used to be before his death.   
There was no God but himself for Klaus when he felt he had the world inside his hands.

“He didn’t… If I accept the life you’re offering me now, I will live an existence of nothingness and emptiness. I’ve never wanted to be powerful, or perfect. The only thing I crave for is someone who loves me with all his heart, beyond any limit, beyond any fault I could ever have. I want someone…” Stefan interrupted himself and looked at Klaus “ I want someone to wake up in the morning with, I want someone to spend Valentine day with. I want someone to compliment to, someone I could give everything I am.” He interrupted again and looked at Cade “Love is the only wish I have. Klaus is the only person who makes me feel like I’ve always wanted to feel. Wanted. Loved. Special. Important. He gave me something to hope for when I lived without any. I’ve almost lost hope completely”

We’re the strongest creature in the world, and yet we’re damaged beyond repair. We live without hope, and yet we never die. We’re the definition of curse, always and forever.

**_"My dearest Hope. I do not know how this will find you. As a child full of wonder, a teenager full of opinions, or a woman with the world at her feet. I write to tell you that I love you, and to explain that in our family's darkest hour, I was called upon to save my siblings... and so I did. Please, do not mourn me. Whatever pain I endure, I do in service of those I love. My sole regret is that I will be away from you. Be good to your mother. I draw comfort knowing that she will protect you. And I know she will not rest until our family is united... until then, my sacrifice will allow you to grow. To become the beautiful daughter I can now only imagine. Please remember that you are the legacy this family has always desired, the promise we fought to protect. You will always be... our hope."_ **

Klaus couldn’t avoid to think about those two quotes. The one Rebekah told him the night she finally confessed all the resentment she held toward him. When he banished her from New Orleans, too prideful to accept her betrayal, too coward to ask her for her forgiveness, too angry to beg her not to abandon him.   
So, was it the curse of the immortals ? An existence without hope ? A loveless life ? With only loneness as your best friends ?  
Klaus almost laughed. All of them, inside that cave were affected by the worst illness of all, the loneliness. The worst was that they couldn’t understand each other. Everyone was alone in his own loneliness. There was no one to cling on to.   
At least, Stefan would make him feel less alone. He felt less alone when he was with the toddler.  
Maybe that was why he felt so lost when Stefan disappeared.

…

_Klaus couldn’t remember a night when he slept and dreamed so peacefully. That night had been one of the most joyful ones. The night when Stefan gave to him something he hadn’t give to any man before._   
_Stefan gave him his virginity, his body, his heart, part of his innocence and Klaus couldn’t love him more._   
_He loved Stefan. It was undeniable._   
_When Klaus was inside him, when he felt Stefan’s warm body around him, craving for his touch, Klaus felt like he died and came back alive each time._   
_When he looked in his green forest eyes and he saw all the devotion, the affection and thousands more emotions in them, Klaus found himself lost in them. Desiring to drown in them. He could still smell his perfume on his body._   
_Why did his body have eliminate so quickly the sings of Stefan lips and kiss on it ?_   
_They only made It more beautiful._   
_When Stefan moaned his name, it never sound more beautiful._   
_Beautiful… It was the only word that suited him so well._   
_One of his nap already craved to touch Stefan’s body more, to caress his soft skin, but the emptiness was what he found._   
_Klaus opened his eyes suddenly and when he noticed the empty space at his side he was fully awake._   
_Where was Stefan ?_   
_Where did he go ?_   
_Why wasn’t there ? With him ? Hugging him ?_   
_Klaus uncovered his body and stood up, not caring about his own nudity. He looked around, concentrated with his ears, trying to listen if Stefan was near somewhere._   
_It was a vain hope._   
_He knew it and it was confirmed when he noticed that Stefan’s clothes weren’t near his on the floor._   
_He went away. Stefan left him in the night, abandoning him._

_“The jerk also took my jacket with him…” he absently commented looking on the floor, noticing the absence of it on the floor._

_How curious was that stupid tendency of men of thinking about silly things during painful situations ?_   
_Maybe because it was easier focusing on deals instead that on the big picture._   
_Klaus didn’t love his jacket, it was simply one of the many. As many lovers he had before. They were only some of the many, he didn’t miss them, he didn’t even remember their names._   
_He didn’t even remember the color of the jacket._   
_So focusing on it while his heart was shuttering inside his chest was logic, reassuring, less humiliating._   
_Robbery was less humiliating than… heartbreaking._   
_Suddenly, all the joy he’d felt until a moment ago, slipped away from his heart._   
_Why did Stefan leave ?_

_“What did I do wrong ? Did I hurt him ? Did I disappoint him ? What happen ?”_

_He forcefully grabbed his hairs, wanted to rip them all, wanted to rip Stefan’s memory from his mins, because the only thought of him was too painful for him._   
_He wanted to scream, he wanted to shout, he wanted to destroy anything in the room, he wanted to punish himself, hurt his own body to atone the crime committed. Naivety._   
_How could he be so stupid ?_   
_How could he think that Stefan could love him ?_   
_How could he think to be enough for the brunette ?_   
_How could he think that Stefan didn’t prefer the power over love ?_   
_Klaus himself knew how attractive the power was, more inviting than love. Love could give you the key for Paradise. Power could give you the throne of it._

_“You ran to him, didn’t you Stefan ? You chose the one who could give you everything I can’t”_

_Power…_   
_Respectability…_   
_Immortality…_   
_Abilities…_   
_Fancy things…_

_“And you Stefan ? What are you giving to him ?” whispered Klaus crying._

_Any tear was like lava that burned the skin of his cheek, leaving long scars. Nothing compared to the thousands thorns of jealously inside his heart._   
_Why was his mind punishing him with thousands imagines of his man in Cade’s arms ?_   
_Why the silent was filling his ears with the moans and groans of pleasures and Stefan moaning Cade’s names ?_   
_How could he hate so mach a man whose face was a mystery to him ?_   
_How could he hate a man whom he only knew the name ?_   
_Cade possessed Stefan first, the silver bracelet, the same bracelet Stefan refused to wear the night, was the proof._   
_Stefan wasn’t devoted to him._   
_Stefan gave him his body, not his soul, that belonged to Cade._   
_The Master of Hell who held all their fates in his cold hands._

_“Are you happy Cade ? He chose you. He ran to you !! He didn’t want to be saved ! He didn’t want my salvation either !!”_

_Why serving in Paradise when he could rule in Hell ? At Cade’s side ?_   
_Klaus felt heartbroken before. The major part of his relationships ended up in the worst way and usually his feelings of love turned into hatred._   
_Klaus could be very volatile when it came to feelings and he was able to pass from calm to anger, from despair to looseness, from love to hatred very quickly._   
_But now… he felt nothing but pain and the what was worst was that he couldn’t even hate Stefan. He couldn’t hate him or blame him because the toddler smile made the logical choice, something that Klaus would have done a long time ago._   
_Power over love… such an understandable logical choice and yet…_   
_He hoped he could finally have his happy ending._   
_Why nothing he did was enough to earn his own happiness ?_   
_He was trying to change, so hard._   
_He apologized to Marcel._   
_He was trying to be a good father for Hope._   
_A good brother. A good friend. A good… person._   
_Stefan…_   
_He only did good to him, Klaus realized it now._   
_Since Stefan entered in his life, Klaus managed to succeed at everything he used to fail before._   
_Klaus finally understood that power wasn’t what he really wanted. He wanted nothing more than create a place where he could be happy and safe._   
_He wanted to be loved, rather than be feared. He wanted to be brave enough no to hide himself behind a mask, he wanted nothing more than tell to the people he loved how much he actually cared for them._   
_He wanted to prove himself that he could be more than the hybrid, than the monster his enemies believed him to be._   
_He wanted to be the father Hope deserved to have._   
_Stefan helped him, Klaus owned him this but is also made his leaving worst._   
_What was Klaus going to do now ?_   
_Would he look for Stefan ?_   
_Would he pretend that the brunet’d never existed ?_   
_Would he ignore the pain in his chest ?_   
_The feeling of loss ?_   
_He should have predict that Stefan was going to break his heart, he only hoped to be wrong for once in his life._

_“Piece of shit… If I look for you, it will only to have my jacket back”_

…

“… Do you confess your blame ?” Asked Cade, whose eyes became red.

“I only one blame… That I love him. DO you want to know if I love Klaus ? Yes, I do… YES, I DO. YES, WE DO !!”

“Yes, you do…” Cade whispered “How unfair… I love both of you first. Stefan and the ripper. I gave you the affection no one dared to give before. I helped you controlling the best inside your heart, the monster inside your mind. I only wanted one thing in return… your love… I gave you all you could wish for, I own you nothing. You own me EVERYTHING !!”

Cade began to use his powers on Stefan, his hellfire. He wanted to see Stefan suffer, begging for his forgiveness, to atone for his crimes, to beg him to spare his life.   
Henry grinned.  
Apparently the interrogatory was over.  
Eri couldn’t stand the sight of her father being tortured by that pervert, but she knew she couldn’t be reckless. She had to be patient.

“He doesn’t own you anything… Why can’t you accept that you’re not what he wants ?” Shouted Klaus.

“How could he not want what I offered to him ?”

“Your pride is your downfall. So blind, that you didn’t even notice that the closest people are the one who laugh at you the most.”

“Don’t waste your breath, Nik…” said Henry “I guess it’s time to uncover all the cards on the table.”

“What ?” Asked Cade.

“Oh, you’re going to enjoy my story. Use confession on me too and you will spoil the fun”

“Use confess…. What are you talking about ? I order you to speak” said Cade.

“O believe me, I’ve been wanting to confess my sins to you all this time…”

…  
  
Dorian didn’t imagine Hell was so vast. Well, he’d never left Henry’s mansion either, at least not alone.   
Wandering in Hell was dangerous even for an Hunter. The hellish beasts only obeyed to the Devil, they attacked whoever crossed their path and they were immune to Hellfire.   
There were also the sinners that didn’t hesitate to assault everyone. The hellfire made them blind, out of rage, helpless, but also lethal for anyone who touched them.

“Surely is not the right time for an outing in Hell.” Commented Dorian looking around.

There wasn’t much to look at actually. Hell didn’t have sky, there was only and endless black coat, without moon, or stars, or clouds. Nothing.  
There were palaces or dilapidated houses around, but they were almost impossible to see from afar due to Hellfire and the black fog.

“This place smells of soot and sulfur” commented Freya covering her nose.

“You get used to it. Consider, I was born here. Henry dragged Arianna here with deception. Black is the first thing I saw. Black like Henry’s eyes. Black as Hell’s sky. Sulfur is the first thing I smell. I remember it was so strong, even though I disliked it so much. I shouldn’t be surprise. No child considers sulfur pleasant”

“Not even adults. How are we going to find Cade’s mansion ?” Asked Freya

“Cade’s mansion in at the center of Hell, well protected by hellfire, but it’s also surrounded by a river. The one and only river in Hell. Water was Sybil’s element. She was the only one who could invoke the water of that river. If we find the river, we will find the Mansion”

“And how will we find the river ?”

Dorian grabbed his flute and said “Sybil could control the river’s water with her voice. She sang a song that Henry whistled when he believed no one was around to listen. I remember it. I will play it with the flute, then the river appears and we will follow it”

“Why do you talk about her in the past ?” Asked Freya.

“Because she’s dead. I can’t feel her anymore. We Hunters are mentally connected, once someone of us dies, we all feel it.” answered Dorian almost with sadness.

“Why Cade killed his own wife ?”

“It was a suicide. Cade took everything away from her, she wanted her death to belong to her”

“That’s pretty sad”

“She was a sad person” confirmed Dorian “She was the one who wants to be out of all of this the most. Unfortunately, fate wasn’t gentle with her until the end.”

Dorian didn’t have many memories about the former Queen of Hell, but from what he gathered, she was a very sad person.   
She loved a man who loved more her love for him than her.  
She was the strongest woman in the world, and yet she didn’t have any of the things she truly wanted.   
She wanted to be a mother, instead her ‘son’ fell in love with her…  
Dorian could almost feel her pain and her desperation while he was playing her song with the flute.  
It was a song of a woman, whose heart was made of pain, reduced in dust, almost a beating shadow in her chest.  
The song sang of a creaming silent, a sweet pain, a monstrous Siren, Goddess of Death.  
An imperfect immortality and a beautiful suicide.  
Dorian hoped that Sybil’s pain would lead him toward salvation.

…

Emotions… Feelings… Sensations…  
Cade knew them all and too well. He’d spent his whole existence observing humans struggle against the need to express or hide his feelings from the rest of the world.   
Happiness, sadness, joy, misery, love, hate…  
After all, if you wanted to judge someone, you had to know everything about them.  
How they thought. How they felt. How they behaved.  
Humans were the greatest mystery in the universe.   
Humans lived the same life, lived the same experience, breathed the same air, admiring the same sun. Had the same opportunity to live a wonderful life. No one of them had more than one possibility.  
Only one.   
One possibility to leave the sign, to change the story, to be loved, to pursue the goals.  
Everything was balanced, expect it wasn’t.  
Sins were the seed that ruined this perfect picture. This perfect imagine of the world.  
Men wasted their lives to destroy each other instead of creating more beauty in the world.   
Men killed, lied, raped, destroyed and ruined the beauty, leaving the ugliness they carried inside their souls.   
They created differences.  
They created chaos.   
They ruined the balance.   
They ruined that only chance.  
They burned down his only chance to live.  
One life, one possibility to be everything or everyone you wanted and humans took it away from him, they stole it from him.   
They broke him…  
That was why Cade hated humans so much. They turned him into that ugly, empty, imperfect shell.   
It was because of them if he couldn’t grow up, marry someone he loved, become a father… living fully his life, enjoying it day after day… minute after minute…  
Sinners didn’t have any other reason to live other than stealing to other this only chance.   
When he created Hell, he swore to himself that he would do everything in his power to punish sinners, to do everything it took to protect that only chance. That only life that belonged to people who deserved it.   
He simply wanted a perfect world, a more beautiful world…   
He knew he committed a lot of mistakes in his life but he never thought that he would be punished this way for them.  
Henry…   
His most beloved son, the most important person in his life, second only to Sybil, and he dared to betray him. How could he ?

“I can imagine why. I can’t imagine how, but I admit you’ve done good. Observants are always the best. Observants learns the tricks they’re going to use to win their game. You are brilliant, a genius even. The man who trick the Devil himself…”

“I didn’t confess myself for your praises, but I almost regretted not to have allowed you to use your Confession ability on me. Even confessing feels amazing under the right circumstances. They had no value for me. I don’t want make you proud, I want to be you, I want have what you have”

“What I have ? Has less value that I used to think” replied Cade strangely calm.

Everyone could feel the storm inside his heart and see the fire inside his eyes nevertheless.   
Stefan knew, or at least he imagined, the storm that was going to rampage. Cade was seething, maybe even worst. The disappointment was eating him out alive and so the feeling of heartbroken.   
Stefan didn’t envy him and he had the feeling that Cade didn’t envy himself either. He almost felt sad for the man. Betrayal was hard to forget. It was a scar that could fade but never disappear. He knew because he felt betrayed by his father, by his mother and by his brother. All of them were good only to tell him what he was suppose to do, to say or to be, only to abandon him when he needed their help the most.   
It was a pain that would never go away…  
It was the kind of pain which could drive a man crazy.  
It was the kind of pain that made realize the Devil how alone he really had been until that moment.  
In the end, his story wasn’t more original than many others.   
Love… Passion… Betrayal.. Vendetta… Greedy… Sin… Even the Devil’s existence possessed the same shades, tastes and shapes of a human ones.   
Stefan wondered if the tears Cade didn’t dare to shred had the same taste too.   
Henry narrowed his eyes, feeling almost insulted.

“You’ve never given things their values. Sybil is the proof of that. You never loved her as she deserved, as I did, and never would. You expect other to love you but you don’t know how. You can’t accept that some of us simply can’t love you”

“Love… What do you know about love ? Do you think that what you feel for Sybil is love ?”

“Maybe I don’t know much about love, but you’re one of those insufferable type that love themselves too much to love others. You don’t care about any of us. We are mere tools for you, this is a matter of fact. I don’t even care much anymore. I learnt how to use people too. Everything that happen in the last century, every event, every death, every victory of yours… Was panned by me. I built a trap long one century and you fell in it”

“How does it make you feel ? Do you want to humiliate me ? Did you hope that I would brake down ?”

“No, I hope you won’t go down without a fight.” Said Henry facing Cade “I want my punchline to be as hilarious as I expected. I want you to be angry, I want you not to step back. See, you’re the only thing between me and throne of Hell. I can’t have Sybil’s love, but it’s not late to have my revenge”

“She was my wife before to be your mother”

“She was my lover before to be your slut.”

Klaus almost smiled with bitterness, then he took Stefan’s hand.   
In the end… Love was their all downfall.   
It was so funny that, not matter how powerful they could be, in the end they all wished for nothing more than something simple and trivial as love.   
He had no idea how Henrik could love the woman who spent her whole life manipulating him. Klaus despised Sybil with all his heart. He blamed her too for what happen to Henrik, because she made the deal with her mother, because she encouraged Henrik into a crooked unhealthy relationship. She didn’t deserve all that devotion, no one of them deserved so much devotion.   
All of them, Cade, Henrik, Sybil… all of them were guilty of unforgivable actions.

“Don’t even dare to try to lie to me. I know you didn’t set up this plan for love…”

“Of course I did. You taught me that lesson. Power is the most predictable reason we committed sins for, and nevertheless our biggest sins are committed in the name of love. I love pretty things as well. Maybe you’re right. Maybe I’m still a child. Children behave this way after all. When they want something, they pout, struggle and cry until their parents don’t give it to them. I did the same, more or less. I wanted revenge, I wanted Sybil and I wanted to demote you. Unfortunately I failed to accomplish my second aim but… It’s not too late for the other too.”

“Sins… How could I even think you could understand my ideals ?” Asked Care more to himself than to someone else.

“You bet on the wrong son. It can happen.” Henry shrugged.

Cade turned toward Stefan and said “Did you know it ?”

“No… But it isn’t like he didn’t try to tell me. All the sings were right in front go my eyes but I simply ignored them in order to get what I want. Be free. In the end, my blindness revealed to be convenient for both of us.” Said Stefan “I told you I wanted to be out of this. If you simply allowed me to be happy with Klaus and my daughter, now you wouldn’t have seen me here betraying you.”

“I simply wanted what was the best for you…”

“You wanted company in your curse. Since the day of your death you’ve been doomed into a lonely existence. You wanted us to leave for you, but in the end you left us utterly alone. In a ground where we could take everything we wanted and yet unable to keep it for ourself. So strong to have the world at out feet and yet so weak not to be able to rise our faces to God.”

“God ? He disappeared a long time ago. Or this world would be more just”

“It was another of your lesson. Justice has to be conquered. But I didn’t care for Justice either…” he looked at Eri and smiled “I remember when I used to face my loneliness on my own, when my mind was split in too, when the simplest tasks were so painful and the hardest one left emptiness inside my hard. I had no reason to try to be free of that torment. I didn’t even want to be free. I wanted to let myself drowning in an endless ocean of misery and…”

“And what ? Keep talking” said Cade.

“… I didn’t love anyone, myself in the first place, and I was weaker in my own depressing attitude over my own existence. I surrendered myself at the idea that I could never be happy anyway. People would only love one part of me, me and the Ripper, never both. Then I met the light of my soul…”

Stefan let Klaus’ hand to come close to Eri, caress her cheek and smile to her.

“… Everything I did after out first met I did for her. If you ever considered yourself a father Cade, you would understand me better then anyone. Biologically she isn’t my daughter, but I love her, I want to protect her and I want her to be safe. For her, I killed, for her I tried to survive my own depression. For her I chose blindness because I wanted nothing more to free both of us from you. So, in my case, the only thing you can blame me for is love. But not for Klaus. You made the mistake to focus yourself too much on my love for Klaus and you ignored that there was someone…” he interrupted “… I’m a man of no law when it comes to my daughter.”

Eri’s eyes widen.   
That was how a father should love his daughter…  
Why didn’t her parents love her at the same way ?  
It wasn’t important anymore. She couldn’t care less. She had everything she needed. Her otōsan was everything she needed in the world.

“You’re a fool…” Cade whispered passing his gaze between Henry and Stefan “Both of you. You hold in your hand the key for grandeur and you simply let it fell on the ground”

“Actually not. Stefan let it fell on the ground, I’m keeping mine tight in my fist. Now… since we both know how much you love having the last word, tell it. Pronounce your sentence for your children. Pronounce the end of your future, of your family, but please, look the betrayer in the eyes while you do it.”

“So that I can look the face of my downfall ? You’re cruel, Henrik Mikaelson… but you’re right. I always want to have last word.”

“Then it’s a luck I don’t want to go to heaven. After all, no one I care about will be there” said Henry.

Cade’s eyes became red, hellfire surrounded his shape. The bone dagger in Eri’s hand was seething, but she was a kitsune of fire, she was made of fire, so it didn’t hurt her.   
Cade nodded toward Shinichi, who nodded too, then he revealed Matt Donavan behind him, hidden with a spell all that time.   
Shinichi used compulsion on Matt so that the blond could activate the Bell.  
No one in the cave tried to stop him.  
Stefan and Henry knew that fighting Shinichi right now would be only a waste of time. They knew that Shinichi had a twin, Misao and that they could only be killed together, in the same moment. Without Misao there, they could fight Shinichi forever, hurt him, even deadly and yet the kitsune wouldn’t have died.   
Klaus had no idea how to defeat a kitsune, in the end Stefan didn’t tell him and, from other’s inertia, he could guess that even Henry and Stefan had no idea how to deal with the situation.   
Stefan almost laughed for the irony of the situation.  
He looked at Henry and for a moment he felt a fool again.  
That was another part of his masterplan. Burning down the place of his origins. Mystic Falls.  
If Matt activated the Bell, Hellfire manipulated by Cade and Shinichi would be strong enough to rase the entire city or big part of it.  
Another Big Fire in the human history…  
From the smirk on Henry’s lips, he knew he get it right.   
Saint Stefan… that was the surname Damon gave him once….   
Yes, he was definitively a Saint whose hands were dirty of sins.   
He almost laughed for the irony of the situation.   
He really was a bad person, or nevertheless he would say something in that moment, trying to stop Matt now matter what, maybe even killing him.   
One man’s life could be sacrifices to safe an entire town, but he didn’t and not because he cared for Matt’s sake.   
It didn’t even have something to do with the fact that now matter how hard he would fight, no one would listen to him. Cade was so furious in that moment and his pride so damaged that he wasn’t see anything in front of his eyes.  
Klaus couldn’t do much either, probably he would kill Matt but that would make futile all the hard work Stefan did to try to make him a batter man.   
Stefan would play the devil for him again, it wasn’t that he had any other choice.  
Letting Mystic Falls burned was also the result of his blindness. He was so focused on his own goals that he completely ignored the world around.   
Henry had been excellent at hiding his true intentions. In the end he was the one who proved to the world how cruel and ruthless Stefan really was. Indeed, the young vampire could almost felt his black eyes pierce in his soul.  
He’d won and he knew. Stefan looked at him and got on his knee. A ridiculous imitation of a reverential knee.  
In fact, Henry was congratulating with his own geniality. In the end he got everything he wanted. Cade thought that destroying Mystic Falls would hurt him deeply, since he was born there but Devil was wrong again.  
Henry again wanted to kill Henrik Mikaelson definitively. In his game, there was no place for weak people and Henrik was weak.  
Henrik loved his mother too much not to have her killed as soon as he realized the extent of his power.  
Henrik was so cute and sweet, a pretty thing easy to break, so manipulating to fell in love with Sybil without thinking about the consequences.  
Henrik didn’t have the courage to search for his oldest sister and steal her magic away from her, to ensure to be the strongest of the family.  
Henrik made the terrible mistake not to manipulate his brother Klaus to kill all his other siblings. A fratricides, a spit on that irritating vow of “always and forever”, another thing that made him felt excluded by his own family. He would have allowed Klaus to become the strongest man on Earth, only to take all his power away from him, to crush him, to destroy him. To oblige him to see his world falling apart as it happen to him.  
Henry instead… Henry had the vision, he had the power and the motivation.  
What was the problem to want something for himself ?  
Thinking to own business and do anything to get them was probably the most human trait in him.   
No one could blame him for. He spent all his life having everything and nothing at the same time. Living and not existing. Loving and hating and not feeling at all at equal measure.   
His aims were everything he had now, so he fought for them.  
Shinichi pushed Matt toward the Bell, and then he began to ring it.

Matt’s looked at the other people, in particularly Stefan and Klaus and then screamed “Please !! Please do something !! Kill me but don’t let me do it !!”

Klaus looked at Stefan. His lover was still and his gaze was firm as stone and cold as ice and yet everything in him was screaming and burning.   
Did he want to kill Matt ? Stefan was a murderer, one life more, one life less, it didn’t make difference, but Stefan didn’t seem prone to stop him.

“Please !! Please kill him !!” Shouted Matt.

“Sorry, lad. If there’s something you should know by now is that rarely Devil gives humans what they really want” said Cade.

“Oh come on dude, now is when the real show begins.” Said Henry.

His words were no longer a promise, a prophecy, but reality. In less than a second.  
Stefan allowed to only one of his tears to shred.  
He’d lost, utterly lost. He lost the right of forgiveness, or he was close to it.  
Killing Matt or allowing Henry to pursue the last part of his masterplan ?  
Why did it have to be him ? What was him suppose to do ?  
He felt a little hand holding tight his. Then he smiled and encountered a green similar to his.  
There wasn’t need to say much between them.

“ Watashi wa chichioya ni narudeshou. Kyō wa ichi-ri shika moemasen, watashi wa chikau koto ga dekimasu” (I’ll do it father, today only one person will burns. I can swear it).

“Īe, issho ni yarimasu. Anatowatashi. Watashi no tamashī no hikari” (No, we will do it together. You and me. Light of my soul)


	48. The game of liars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Through error you come to the truth! I am a man because I err! You never reach any truth without making fourteen mistakes and very likely a hundred and fourteen.”   
> ― Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Crime and Punishment

CHAPTER 48

 

Dorian knew that something bad was going to happen when he notice the black sky of Hell becoming purple, the Hellfire higher and the smoke red.

The Master of Hell was invoking more and more Hellfire from Hell, which meant that if they didn’t find repair soon, they would ended up burned by the fire or suffocated by the smoke.

They had to hurry up.

Fortunately, his plan worked. The river appeared as soon as he finished to play the song, so now they were following its stream. Dorian wondered if the river didn’t conceal something sister inside it, maybe some kind of monster or some sinister creature which used to obey to Sybil.

 

“Let your heart fall… into an ocean of deprivation… your heart’s wall… no more will be a salvation… A kiss from the Siren of Hell… is a temptation no man can quell… come here… come here…”

 

Both Freya and Dorian jumped and then looked at the river. That song had a similar melody of the song of no more Queen of Hell. So the river was actually connected to her.

 

“It was a legend of Hell. Cade created this river as a gift to Sybil for their marriage. She was the only one who could control this river”.

 

“My sweet soul with the taste of roses… let be dragged into a maze of pain by our voices…”

 

“It’s not the kind of song I expected. The melody you played before was so melancholic” commented Freya.

 

“Indeed, this is the song she sang when she had to kill someone, or wanted to seduce someone. It’s funny how men and women fell for her after only hearing this song. We can’t fell fro the trick because I’m a Sinner Hunter and you because are protected by Verbis Diablo”

 

“Did you… use Verbis Diablo on me ?” Asked Freya.

 

“Not me, When Eri used Damon as anchor, her spell invested everything in the Armory, included you and everyone inside it”

 

“So… we won’t die in the river will we ?” Asked Freya, just to be sure.

 

“I don’t know. I’ve never been so close to this river as now.” Answered Dorian.

 

Suddenly, they noticed a movement in the black waters, so they made some steps back.

An arm, long, slim, white, with green and gray branches near the elbow and long black nails got out from water. Then it went back under water.

Dorian and Freya shared a look, unsure whether ignoring what they saw and move on or stay there and see that could happen.

Maybe it was better deal with that creature now, it was better erase any kind of danger now, before that Hell became a furnace.

Dorian looked at Freya and he remembered that she was one of the most powerful witches he would ever met in his life, she was also his mother, so they could do anything together. More like Stefan and Eri.

When they were together they could defeat Devil himself.

They were stronger.

They protected each other.

They ceased to be two and became one.

They were one powerful creature that could survive Hellfire.

 

“… Don’t be scare little sweet lad… your diamond tears make me so glad… Grab my little hand…”

 

“The creature’s singing again” said Freya.

 

“We should…”

 

Dorian couldn’t conclude his line that suddenly a flood of water raised from the river and attacked them. Freya moved Dorian wheelchair quickly with her magic, so that the flood couldn’t hit him.

 

“My my… a living human here… It doesn’t feel right… this place doesn’t belong to the living” said the creature.

 

It was a woman, whose skin was white and smooth, like the a snake. Her hair were dark green and her eyes gold. The same branches she had near the elbow where on her knees, near her neck and on her hips.

 

“What kind of creature are you ?” Asked Dorian.

 

The creature smiled, then her skin turned into olive toned skin, her long black hair went shorter, dark brown. She had round brown eyes and she was very beautiful.

 

“My name is Seline… or it used to be… When Sybil killed me, she destroyed my body, reducing it in dust, but death wasn’t enough satisfying for her, as punishment for my betrayal. She decided to turn the rest of me in her little pet… in this creature…”

 

At the place of the beautiful woman, reappeared the creature with the white skin.

 

“I’ve nothing against you… but I’m created with the only purpose of killing any living woman who comes to close to the House of the Master”

 

“Oh right. Cade used to drag women from the living world. Henry confessed to me once that he was unfaithful to Sybil. So she got her revenge by killing any living woman who arrives here in Hell.”

 

‘She had to be paranoid’ thought Freya about Sybil.

She didn’t know her personally but she could guess from this, that whatever happen between the two was personal and it didn’t have to do only with Cade.

Freya hoped they weren’t sisters. A woman surrounded by unfaithful abusive male figures, didn’t deserve to be betrayed by other women too.

It was enough looking around for few seconds, to understand that Hell wasn’t a suitable place for anyone, specially a young woman deeply in love with the heart of this monstrosity.

 

“As I would enjoy having sex with that monster. How can we defeat her ?”

 

“Hellfire is fire in the end. It can’t be used against water. She’s already dead, if we die… there’s be any guarantee that Cade will resurrect us. On the contrary, he would know everything about our plans and let us die.”

 

“So what do you propose ?” Asked Freya.

 

Dorian looked at the creature, who invoked two other flood of black water, ready to attack them.

 

“I have to use Verbis Diablo and you with me…” said Dorian.

 

“I’ve never used Verbis Diablo”

 

The creature attacked them but Freya created a shield with her magic to stop her attack.

The Siren attacked again, creating hundreds balls.

Suddenly Dorian remembered a spell that Henry invented to torture Hellish creature with pain.

Apparently studying and inventing ways for torture and torment creatures and humans was one of his favorite hobbies.

Henry also felt very proud of his creations, so much that he had no problems to show them off, as they were his children.

Dorian partially envied Henry’s ability to take care of himself, the extent of his power. His cunning, creative, methodical character and the capability to find always a solution for his problems.

 

“Eternal pain… for my darkness fellows… who date to hinder the path marked by my longing… Marionette of the goddess of the underworld… let my anger be your torment…”

 

The woman began to scream. She grabbed her heard with both her hands and tears of black blood began to run along her cheeks. Unfortunately, the effect of Dorian’s spell didn’t last long. The creature began to laugh, then she pronounced strange words that even Dorian couldn’t understand.

Suddenly, at both of her sides, appeared five men. All of them were dressed up with worn and dirty rags, bony to the point that they look like skeletons, with thinning and frizzy hair, and white pupils that made them look more terrifying.

 

“What are they ?” Asked Freya.

 

“Gongers” answered Dorian

 

“What ?”

 

“When a sailor dies on the sea, he returns as Gonger to deliver the news of his death. He raised from the sea at night and visit the house of his descendants. Unfortunately, these souls are blocked here. When Sybil and his sister used to be humans, they were isolated on an island because the people of their villages considered them dangerous. For revenge, Seline used her psychic powers to kill all the sailors who navigated near the island. She killed them and then ate them. That’s why they’re here.”

 

“Eat them ?” Asked Freya horrified.

 

“She wanted revenge and survive too. They were two young kids alone on an island, they had to find way to eat and survive. The strongest eat alive the weakest. It’s an universal rule Seline understood too well. But now it’s now important. We have to find a way to stop them”

 

“I guess you’ve never fought a Gonger ah ? I didn’t even know they existed” said Freya.

 

Dorian gasped and for a moment he forgot how to breath. He couldn’t name the sensation he was having, as a sort of memory buried for a long time in a fog of gray indifference and cold apathy.

The fragile fragment of the moment he understood how Greedy was connected to his soul.

 

…

 

_New was the word of the day._

_Stranger was the fragrance on his neck._

_Untasted was the taste on his tongue._

_Curious was the elegant costume fitted with his villainous mask._

_Abnormal were the manners of the only man he would dare to say to know._

_Even the color of the fire seemed so strange._

_Yesterday… evening ? Afternoon ? It wasn’t impossible to say in Hell, but Cade allowed Henry to bring him in the human world for just one day._

_Henry Knight was the epitome of an unsolvable puzzle, whose pieces was shattered on the floor, so many, so different that Dorian doubted they could be one again._

_Henry looked strangely exited. Dorian could say it by his posture. Usually Henry’s posture was rigid, as he was always on the alert, as he was always scared of someone appearing behind his back and attack him._

_Apparently today something different was going to happen, maybe something more than a simple trip on the other world._

 

_“Henry… why do you look so… radiant today ?”_

 

_He didn’t think ‘radiant’ was the most appropriate word, but no other term came in his mind in that moment, and he wasn’t good at defining emotions, specially when they belonged to others._

_Feelings, even the sound of it was stranger on his tongue. Understanding other’s feelings was something it was always useful, because it made enemies much more predictable, apparently he wasn’t supposed to learn those kind of tricks, only listening their exposing by people who knew more than a way to use them for their entertainment._

 

_“Well, I finally have an opportunity to teach you more about life. But, before to bring you in the living world, you have to know Hell. Your home. You have to learn how to protect yourself here, then no one from the human world could ever defeat you”_

 

_“Am I not strong enough to kill even the strongest of the men ?”_

 

_“The strongest of men but not of the hearts. Some hearts are stronger, particular, and can be killed by us. It’s the rule. When we can’t dominate others’ hearts, we can only protect ours”_

 

_“How am I supposed to protect my heart ?” Asked Dorian “From what ?”_

 

_“There’s no way to protect our hearts completely. Pain is like an illness but also the vaccine. Once you felt pain, it will never go away, but it will be easier put it up with terrible events. Have you ever felt pain ?”_

 

_“You know I haven’t. I feel nothing”_

 

_“Maybe it’s better this way. No mind to poison, no heart to hurt… No one will take away from you something that’s never been yours in the first place… I almost envied you”_

 

_“Are feelings always connected with people ?” Asked Dorian._

 

_“The deepest…”_

 

_Henry didn’t elaborate, instead he lost himself into the dark infinite of his thoughts. An infinite where Dorian wasn’t allowed to access. An infinite which key went lost a long time ago. Henry was Mr Armored Room, the kind of man who would die to protect his secrets more than his money, the kind of man who would lie to cover an undeniable truth about himself rather than admitting he had diamonds under his bed._

_Henry ate, breathed, drunk secrets._

_For a man of his age, he knew how to hide them, he knew how to keep them and others, he also knew how to punish people with truth, how to use it against others._

 

_“Where do you want to take me today ?” Asked Dorian._

 

_He hated when Henry isolated himself in his mind. It made feel Dorian excluded. Henry was the only… bound he had. It was important to him. Maybe it was dangerous depending so much on someone who was willing to share so little on his side, but Dorian had that strange sensation that Henry wouldn’t hurt him._

_Henry was free of ignoring him, of offending him, of abusing him but Henry simply helped him moving through the Manor. He spent two hours reading books for him, the ones Dorian picked._

_Henry was…_

 

_“What would you like to visit first ?” Asked Henry._

 

_“I want to know your secrets. I want to know how I can defend myself in Hell. I want to know what kinds of creatures there are out there, I want to be sure I can save myself here”_

 

_“My secrets ah ? Why didn’t you say ‘tricks’ ?” Asked Henry with a little smirk._

 

_“Because you have no tricks but secrets. I want to learn them. I want to use them”_

 

_“My secrets are more dangerous than any weapon in this dimension Dorian. I’m not reproving you for your request. It’s normal… wanting to solve a tempting puzzle which is constantly under your nose”_

 

_“Would share some pieces of the puzzle with me ?”_

 

_Henry scrutinized him with his black eyes. Dorian wondered it more than a scrutiny, Henry wanted to vivisect him like a frog with his eyes._

_How could he be so collected when he was so close to someone so dangerous ?_

_Henry was such a bad guy, a bad caregiver, a bad human, an excellent Sinner Hunter. The Trickster of any myth. The Loky of Cade’s Asgard._

_The Prometheus of Cade’s Olympus._

_Dorian wondered when he would fell or rise from that reign. He wondered what was going to happen to him. What was the fate Devil had chosen for him._

_A life of light was so far away and yet he was okay with it. Darkness was the only place where he could meet such interesting people, such useful secrets. He wanted nothing more than to know everything that could save him from an heartbreak, from a defeat, from a delusion, from a broken dream…_

_There was nothing wrong in it._

_He didn’t chose that existence, his mother chose it for him. He couldn’t say that someone had stolen a life from him that never belonged to him in the first place_

_He died before to born._

_Death embraced him before life._

_Henry put an hand on his shoulder and smiled._

 

_“Come on, I want you to be a tough boy after all.”_

 

_Henry began to push his wheelchair. They want out home, they went out in the garden, the only place in Hell where white roses could blossom and the grass was green and perfumed. And the roses were themselves so beauty that not even the red sky above them or the smoke of Hellfire could suffocated their perfume or their beauty. They were bright like diamonds, like stars and they were utterly beautiful._

_Henry loved white roses but no one knew why, what mean they had for him. Surely Henry didn’t address to white roses the same meaning of somebody else._

_There couldn’t be nothing more dangerous than allowing someone deranged as Henry pushing his ‘legs’. Maybe he was replay dysfunctional as anybody else in Hell._

_After he didn’t feel like the other children. He didn’t think like the other children. He wished different things but nothing in particular at the same time._

_He wished what Henry wished and claimed what Henry claimed._

_Henry was everything for him…_

 

_“Now I’m going to teach you a melody, memorize it. It’s the only way to see it”_

 

_“What ?”_

 

_“The Hellish river. The only river in Hell, a wedding gift from the Devil to his bride. Indeed, only the Queen can command the water”_

 

_“But anyone can invoke it, right ?”_

 

_“Anyone who can invoke the Queen…”_

 

_There was a strange kindest in the way Henry pronounced the word ‘Queen’. Unrecognizable were also his eyes, for a moment, they were colored by a sweet sadness, a kindness that Henry had for no one._

_Was there something else between Henry and the Queen ?_

_Dorian hoped he misunderstood, he feared what the Master of Hell could do to Henry if he found out or if he matured the suspect of an affair between his wife and his pupil._

_Henry didn’t seem to notice his torment, his worry, or his fear, maybe he didn’t even care._

_What mattered to him was whispering a bittersweet melody, whose words were familiar but the meanings a mystery._

_Dorian wasn’t good at interpreting others’ words, less the meanings behind it, not matter how easy or difficult they could be. He wasn’t good at understanding people, feelings, sensations._

_Henry whispered the songs in his lips, almost as he feared that someone else could hear his love declaration for someone he would never have._

 

_“Falling in love is wonderful… Dorian… The sweet illusion that one person could be everything you need to exist. The kind lie that you can be everything for that other person as well. It’s sweet, it’s lovely and intoxicating. Once you taste you’ll never forget the sweet poison of love.”_

 

_“Is love like water for you ?” Asked Dorian._

 

_“Love is a greedy hunger for me… Now… Listen… Close your eyes… and listen…”_

 

_Dorian obeyed. He closed his eyes and try to listen anything around him. At the begin, only silent surrounded him, but then, with a little more concentration he could hear it, the stream of the river, the water and something else… a song and cries. Cries, so may cries._

 

_“Who’s crying ?” Asked Dorian._

 

_“The creatures inside the river… Gongers…”_

 

_“What are they ?”_

 

_“Souls… of men died in the sea. Eaten by the sirens, that’s why they looked like living skeletons. They were the men who’d hurt the Queen when she used to be human. The female voice you can hear instead… it’s her sister…”_

 

_“How can I defeat Gongers ?” Asked Dorian._

 

_“Only by pushing them out of the water and away from it. If they stay on the ground for few minutes and then they came back in the river again, they can survive. But if they stay on the ground too much, their souls weakened and only dust remained.”_

 

_“How can I do it ?”_

 

_Henry smiled, then he caressed his hair “You’re not stupid, not matter how much Cade wants you to believe it, or how much useful could be for me to allow you to believe it. Be creative. Force that little brain of yours”_

 

_Provocations, in a complete Henry’s fashion. Well, Dorian couldn’t be offended by them, because he had no idea about how what he should feel. He looked at the water and for a moment he remained intrigued by it. Stream of water… Stream of conscious… Water was a an uncolored flux, like him. Vital, lethal, dangerous, important and nevertheless, like the river in the Hell, Dorian felt like he was full of monsters as well. Full of nightmares and imperfections._

_For a moment he remained hypnotized by the water, like if its rumor was the melody of a sweet lullaby. Maybe he could take some inspiration in it._

_Lost… alone… with his thoughts… with his soul… this could be his lullaby…_

_He was going to speak again, when he suddenly heard some footsteps. He turned toward Henry, to see if the older guy was scared or worried, if it was necessary be ready to fight. But then he saw a beautiful woman, so much beautiful that Dorian didn’t believe to be real. She was wearing a long white dress, a color that surely didn’t fit with Hell, and a simply but elegant pearl necklace. But what caught Dorian’s attention the most, was the way Henry was looking at the woman. With deeply devotion, adoration, kindness. Never his black eyes had been so expressive like in that moment. Dorian didn’t even believe Henry could be capable of feeling so much._

_‘It’s an hellish angel incarnated in her…’ that was what Henry’s mind was communicating to him and more he observed him, more details he noticed. Henry was holding his breath, his hands were shaking and so his lower lips. He didn’t even blink, as if he feared that she could disappeared if he dared to take his eyes off her for a seconds. If he concentrated more, he could swear he could hear the beat of his heart._

_It had the same rhythm of the river…_

 

_“Hello handsome fellas… Want enjoy the view with me ?” Asked the woman with a smile._

 

_“You’re beautiful…” Dorian whispered the only thing he had in mind._

 

_The woman smiled “You’re lovely too. You remembered me of another adorable little boy…” she interrupted, then she looked at Henry “… An adorable boy with a pair of lovely black eyes, who wanted nothing more than being held by my arms. He had this longs black hair I love tangling and…”_

 

_“A pretty boy that would have done anything for you. Still would. A pretty boy who was dancing with the death and the you rescued him.”_

 

_“You died?” Asked Dorian._

 

_“I did. You know, I used to live a mundane spartan life into a wood with my no more family. One day, me and my older brothers escaped to see the werewolves. Unfortunately, one of them lost control completely and killed me. I though it was over for me. But then your grandmother forced another existence on me. She sold me to the Queen of Devil, gave her my soul, then I gave her my heart too”_

 

_“I wish I had a better care of this heart.” Said the woman looking at the river “I’m Sybil, by the way” she said coming closer to Dorian and caressing his hair._

 

_“I’m Dorian.How did you get here ?”_

 

_“Dorian !!”_

 

_Henry was going to reprove him but Sybil simply smiled. She kneed near Dorian, not caring about getting her dress dirty, then she grabbed his little hand an began to tell “A long time ago in a little Mediterranean village there was a girl, who began to manifest psychic abilities, so she was doomed to be abandon into al island and forbidden to come back home, hoping for the day everyone’d hurt her will be punished for their wicked deeds. On the island there was another girl…”_

 

_“Was she your friend ?”_

 

_“More than that. I considered her my sister… From one moment to one day become… The Sirens… Me and Her… bounded by the same live… share the same doom…The little innocent girl became a monster. My older sibling forced me to adopt her lifestyle, eating any men to stay alive. When I learnt the truth aboutwhat my sister had done, I did the only thing a decent person could do…”_

 

_“What ?” Asked Dorian in all his naivety and innocence._

 

_“I threw myself off the quips. For mercy… for love… for forgives… But God never answered me. Seline was the one who forced this existence on me. My sister saw it as opportunity to sell me to my Lord and Master… I had to feast on the flesh to keep me beautiful and in return he collects the souls of the wicked… in Hell. She made a deal with Cade… immortality, beauty and youth for the two of us. But one of us… had to become his bride as well…”_

 

_“So you’re… the Queen of Hell ?”_

 

_The beautiful woman bite her lower lips then she whispered what it sounded like ‘I tried so hard to be good’, tears began to run along her left cheek and she answered his question with a little nod._

_She wasn’t like anything he’d expected by the Queen of Hell. He’d always believed that Cade’s Queen looked… crueler , more satisfied about her existence. A woman who only wore expensive, glitzy, showy and tacky clothes and jewels. Not her… not woman who looked more beautiful than any pearl she was wearing. More beautiful than any white roses in Henry’s garden._

_A fallen angel whose tears filled the river in Hell. A lethal lost soul, the legitimate sovereign of a burning empire._

_A human little girl who held inside her hurt a pain that only few could understand completely, more or less._

_Dorian was convinced that people weren’t capable of understanding each other, because no one was capable of living pain at the same way. There was always a difference, not matter how slight it could be._

_Dorian could understand why Sybil’s song was so sadden. Because it expressed the pain she held inside her heart, the pain no one cared about, because no one could understand, because she didn’t allow no one to understand._

_Sybil, betrayed by her family, by her sister, by her husband and yet she held the destiny of all the livings in her hands. How could a woman being so strong and so fragile at the same time ?_

_A soul was fragile, more than the body._

_If the body died, the soul survive. But if the soul went destroyed… the body… is nothing more than empty shell to fulfill with someone else will._

_Henry and Sybil… That was what they were._

_Both of them sold by their family to the Devils, abandoned, isolated, both of them had grown up into a life of misery but they were stranger to the each other’s pain._

_It was only when Henry took her hand and kissed her on the cheek, that Dorian understood that there was something between them. Something sweeter and crueler than pain at the same time. Another feeling Dorian couldn’t understand but could name. They could be perfect for each other, and perfect was that moment together, but the silver ring around her ring finger, the was what spoiled the entire picture._

_She would never be his, she would never belong to him, but Dorian… Dorian would remain by Henry side forever. Dorian wasn’t the Queen of Hell, but for the moment he was Henry’s family. Henry who was taking care of him, in his personal weird way._

_Henry who was pushing him to elaborate a way to defeat his enemies…_

_Henry… his mentor, protector and uncle._

_Dorian looked at the river and allowed the Queen shredding the tears he didn’t have the courage to shed by himself._

 

_“I’m the lust… If I caress you please don’t trust me… I don’t know any law… Not even God can forbid me from your heart…. I’m the passion… I’m the fury who came to destroy and devour and torment and pollute your soul and mind… Who I will or will not be for you… Chose it for me… I’ve no shape but the ones that you give to me… There’s no rhyme in my pray… Pray don’t need any rhyme… It’s not a song… It’s the pray of a lustful creature… I married the Devil of Lust… Sex is the only devotion I know… Sensuality the only melody I have and…”_

 

_…_

 

Dorian didn’t remember any other word of the song. A song of pure lust and desperation. A scream of unrequited love. A pray for a caress of devotion. An hope for redemption. A dream of an innocent love. Not more Eros…

She wanted an unconditional pure love.

 

_“…_ Dorian ? Honey, are you listening me ?”

 

His mother’s voice distracted him from his thoughts. Where was that memory in his mind ? How could he forget it ? Why did he do ?

He looked at his mother and thought about how peaceful his life could be with her. He could have family, he could live among humans and die human. He could stop to live under a red sky. But that was what he really wanted.

Did he want to live happy leaving Henry behind ? Being the last person who abandon him ?

He knew how amazing it would be being with his mother, but family wasn’t made by blood, but by fate.

Eri and Stefan were one and only by fate and were amazing when they worked together. He and Henry were family by blood and fate, so they would be even better. They could be one and only as well. They could be a family. They could fulfill the void inside his heart.

With Freya everything would be so easy…

But not for this fair.

 

“Hell is multicultural. I learnt how to speak Japanese, Chinese… a lot of things regarding so many cultures and traditions that I could speak forever. But now… I think that this is the only thing I can do…” he simply said answering to another question. Continuing the conversation they’d interrupted before.

 

The Gongers began to run toward them, so Dorian grabbed his flute and began to play it.

With his song, he ordered the hellfire around them to build a wall of fire between them and the river, long until Cade’s Mansion.

‘Keep going alone… I will follow you…’.

That was what Dorian communicated to Freya through their minds.

 

“What ? I’m not leaving you. Not again”

 

“You didn’t. You killed me, I know your reasons now, but if you don’t listen to me, we will die again, together and with us all our family”

 

Dorian didn’t care about the rest of his family. He had troublescaring about people in general, he hadn’t realized how much Henry was important for him until that moment, figures people who he’d known for few minutes.

He knew that his mother loved him at that was enough… to cure all the wounds he didn’t even know to have. Because he wasn’t aware of the pain of being abandoned until he saw her blue eyes praying for his forgiveness and he knew, he knew he was cruel because he was going to break her heart again. But he had to save her first.

They would meet eventually, just not too soon. Not for the moment.

 

“Please, there has to be another way. I can’t…”

 

“I’m a Sinner Hunter. Whether this war is won by Henry or Cade, I will survive. Henry is my uncle, Cade needs me for the Sloth. I win, you won’t. I know that you think that you should protect me but you don’t have to. I don’t need it. I simply needyou to believe in me…”

 

_Like Henry had…_

But Dorian wasn’t going to pronounce those words. Another secret. Another thing that would separate his mother and he forever. He would never be able to make his mother happy, He would never be able… to live… not completely. But his mother didn’t have to follow him into his doom.

 

“Run. The sphere of the kitsune are on the second floor, left corridor, seventh door on the left. You won’t need any key. Cade’s always been convinced that no one would dare to spy on him, not in his house. Found them and crush them. They’re into a coffer with the name of Shinichi and Misao written on it.”

 

“I can’t go without you…” Freya whispered with tears in her eyes.

 

“It’s not a goodbye… remember it…”

 

Then Dorian used his flute to invoked Hellfire, he created a barrier that separated him and his mother.

‘Go, now !’ He ordered through his mind.

He would thank her after a long time.

Because she gave him a purpose. She gave him a motivation to survive. To see her again. When he would be ready. When he would become the son she needed him to be. A son she could be proud of. The son Henry could be proud of. A strong motivated man. A boy worthy of Eri’s admiration.

Not matter how much it would hurt, killing those Gongers would be only the first step.

Freya didn’t want to obey, she wanted to stay, she wanted to reach her son, but the Hellfire didn’t allow her, it didn’t disappear. So she screamed and ran, because there were other people who she had to fight for. Because in that moment their safety depended on her.

She looked at the river, pretending that it was shredding the tears she wasn’t allowed to shred herself.

 

…

 

Stefan held Eri’s hand.

They knew what hey had to do. They knew what was their next goal and they also knew they weren’t going to fail.

Stefan looked at Henry, challenging him with his gaze. Henry smirked, accepting the challenge.

Henry was curious to know how far their determination would go. If they were capable of absorbing all the Hellfire coming from Hell.

If they were strong enough to destroy the Bell. Because Henry didn’t believe in family, but he always wanted to be surprised.

Henry lived his life in apathy and he always longed to be surprised each day of his life. Stefan only surprised him once, in Chicago, then he simply play the part in Henry’s drama. Maybe now Henry would be surprised again, maybe Stefan would manage to spoil his plans, to ruin something he knew Henry wished with all his heart.

Eri used her powers to sign a circle on the ground, all around them.

 

“Itsi sits. Eksleebire.” (Stop, go away) Said Eri creating a protection with Verbis Diablo around all of them, so thatHellfire couldn’t go over the circle.

 

Stefan looked at Matt and said “Be read to ring that bell”

 

Matt looked at him stunned “What ? Are you our of his mind ?”

 

“No, he has a plan.” Said Henry “You should gamble for once in your life” then he looked at Cade and smiled.

 

Cade was trying to bring all the Hellfire here, and not matter how powerful the Verbis Diablo could be, it could never contain all the fire. Also, Cade couldn’t do anything more. He had to concentrate all his energies. That was why Shinichi was there. If one of them tried something funny, the fox would growl in defense of his master. Henry couldn’t wait to get rid of him.

Couldn’t wait to get rid of anyone who stood in his way.

He’d been patient for far too long. He’d observed the master of the game, moving his pawns, doing his moves and he learnt from Cade’s mistakes. He learnt all the best and the worst strategies to win.

All the actors were there because he wanted them to be there.

 

“I suppose you’re satisfied” said Klaus narrowing his eyes.

 

“Why shouldn’t I be ? This is the big picture. This is my master plan. This is my revenge. All the people I hate… death… the place I hate… burned down.”

 

“The family and the past you want so hard to forget… gone.” Concluded Klaus for him.

 

“See ? You understand me perfectly, because we used to think and behave at the same way. Mundanity, normality, mediocrity… we hate only the sound of them. We taste she sweetness of power. You used to be the king of the world… But I will be the Lord of Death. I’m dancing the most sensual danse macabre. A sweet slow path long a millennium. Can you understand it ?”

 

“I’ve never forgotten my origins, not even once”

 

“But you wished you had, didn’t you ?” Asked Henry licking his lips “You wished you could forget the coldness of my death body in your arms”

 

Klaus gulped. Henry chuckled, perfectly aware to have hit a soft spot.

Klaus hated him for a moment. He hated how Henrik could use such a painful moment of their lives to hurt him so deep. He hated the weakness Henrik represented for him.

He hated that his brother had no mercy over him. He hated how he used not to have mercy over his siblings either.

He hated that Henrik became such a cruel man. He considered it a personal failure. Because Klaus had to protect him. He should have protected him from those damn werewolves, he should have seen Henrik growing up.

He missed everything.

 

“Here everything began.” Said Henry “If not today, I will try over and over again, until it remain nothing but dust of Mystic and our story. You can keep New Orleans if you want. I also offer to help you to kill that nullity of Marcel.”

 

Klaus was going to open his mouth but then Henry interrupted him again “Not need. He’s familieeee” he sang like a child.

 

“Yes, he’s family” confirmed Klaus with determination.

 

“Cool, the family in decline, now also welcomes wolves in heat and orphans beggars. That’s why you failed as a king. I, on the other hand, I will try to do better than you and Cade.”

 

“So what ? You’ll try to blackmail pure people to join in your insanity ?”

 

“There’s no loyalty more sincere than in the business. Until you can give to someone something they want, your relationship will be mutual beneficial. If you risk to lose it, increase the supply, but do not neglect the profit. If it becomes disadvantageous for you… break the relationship and find someone whom you can give something important.”

 

“But make it more beneficial to you. You would have been a cunning business man”

 

“I simply deal better with business than with people. I’m far more willing to engage more with things than with people. Things can’t betray you, people grow up, they change, lose their charm and then ended up to bore me to death” answered Henry shrugging.

 

Klaus was an ambitious man, who was more prone to be tempted by power than by a sort of relationship with someone, but he didn’t live of things. Things over people…

Henry looked at Cade and threw a kiss in his direction.

That made Cade seething more.

He couldn’t put it up with Henry humiliating and mocking him in front of that bunch of rabble.

‘Attack them… now’ he ordered to Shinichi who nodded.

The fox, the kitsune of the spirit. He could create globe andbeams of light, not only to attack but also to create illusions.

Shinichi invoked a globe of light, bright enough to make everyone close their eyes, also, Klaus and Stefan’s skin burned a little. The light was similar to sunlight and it could really harm them.

 

“Shit !”

 

“Matt… you’re the only one who can get out of the circle without consequences. If you want to save Mystic Falls, you should simply follow my instructions. Ran and ring the bell”

 

“How could I…”

 

Whatever disapproval Matt wanted to express, had been silenced by Klaus who grabbed him by an arm and looked him in the eyes. Compelling him.

 

“You’ve already had a terrible opinion about me… so… Go ring the bell… now”

 

“You piece of shit…” Matt whispered trying to get out of the cycle. 

 

Shinichi invoked a beam of light and and burned Matt’s eyes who screamed our of the pain.

Then the Kyuubi appeared all over his body and it was ready to attack. So Eri invoked her Kyuubi as well, Klaus showed his fangs and veins and Henry, who couldn’t wait to have the kitsune about of his way, chose to stand by their side, even though he hoped that Mystic Falls would burn.

 

“You pawn should really learn not invade the path a tread. Shinichi darling, you won’t be a part of my new kingdom”

 

“Never wanted to be you traitor. I’m going to reduce your hybrid brother in dust”

Henry smirked “Pretty words of a pretty pet…”

 

Henry whispered some words in latin, then chains appeared around Shinichi’s Kyuubi. The fox began to growl and try to get free.

 

“Question, what’s a kitsune without his Kyuubi ?”

 

“A warrior nonetheless…” answered Shinichi who attacked first.

 

Henry narrowed his eyes. He sincerely had no idea how long it would last. He hadn’t hunted sinners for a long time, his powers weren’t at their best conditions. Instead Shinichi was at his, he was fighting Klaus and Eri at the same time and Henry had to admit, he was an excellent fighter.

He was able to dodge all Klaus’ attacks, not matter if Klaus was stronger or faster. It was almost like Shinichi was capable of anticipating his moves. Probably because Klaus wasn’t such a creative and unpredictable fighter.

Puches and kicks… that was all his arsenal.

Shinichi was a better fighter. He grabbed Klaus by his shoulder with an hand, the arm with the other and succeeded to make him fall on his back.

Eri was skillful but she was still young and Shinichi had more experience on it.

At least her Kyuubi wasn’t in chains. When her agility wasn’t enough to defend her by Shinichi’s strength, her Kyuubi intervened to protect her.

 

“Your lover and your daughter… They’re a good team, but enlighten me, Cade’s invoking Hellfire, a fire so intense to destroy something as a soul. What do you possibly think to do ?”

 

“Make one last deal. Matt needs to ring the Bell, I can open a portal with my bracelet but I will never be able to do it by myself. I need your help. I… I want a deal”

 

“What ?” Asked Henry sincerely surprised “Are you kidding me ?”

 

“No. Cade will never win. It’s obvious. If you now destroy Mystic Falls, You will kill… people I would have cared about… in another life or in different circumstances. You will kill your siblings, Klaus’ siblings. I want him to be happy. I want you not to…”

 

“Not to what ? You can’t save someone who doesn’t want to be saved” said Henry.

 

“You have no idea what I’m capable of. I sold my soul to Devil to protect my brother. I will sell myself to his son… to protect my lover and my daughter.”

 

Henry looked at him as he had three head then he crossed his arms and said “Let me get it right… Are you offering your complete and utterly loyalty to me ?”

 

“You have the victory in your hands. I know…” Stefan turned toward Cade “… he knows… but dying without a fight is not in his fashion… But he knows… What can I give to you ?”

 

“Why ? Why can’t you let me destroy the city ?” Asked Henry.

 

“You know the answer even better than myself…” simply answered Stefan.

 

Henry narrowed his eyes, he sank his teeth inside his lower lip, which started to bleed. He also sank his fingers inside his palms, which started to bleed as well.

Henry knew it, the answer, even though he wished he didn’t. He wished he could be motivated enough to push aside the last person who’d shared that Hell with him and still didn’t reprove him for the choices he’d made.

Stefan understood, or at least he was trying to. He knew that it meant being under a man like Cade, he knew what it meant living for someone else’s wishes, he knew how he felt. Stefan wasn’t judging him either, because Stefan knew, he’d always known Henry was a cruel man as well. That he was the worst kind of trickster he could ever met and yet Stefan accepted to play for him, with him.

They were both monsters, and yet Stefan had something, a light inside him, a foolish hope that Henry’d never had.

 

“You should stop to sacrifice yourself for others. You have no soul for sale anymore.”

 

“Then I will sell something Cade’s never has. Not from me, not ever”

 

Henry was going to speak again but then another voice interrupted him “No !!”

 

It was Klaus who was coming closer to them, then he repeated “No. I sell my soul if I have to, but you’re not going to make another deal with him. That’s final.” Said Klaus looking Stefan in the eyes.

 

“Geez, he’s not your official boyfriend yet and he already takes decisions for you.”

 

“Stay out of this, Henry.” Klaus took Stefan’s hand “You sacrificed so much… for me, for Damon, for Eri… I’m not going to allow you to sacrifice more for my family. It’s my turn. It’s time that someone sacrifices something for you”

 

“I don’t want you to sacrifice something for me” said Stefan.

 

“I want to. You’re my… light. My boyfriend and I want to do something for you. I want to take care of you, so let me do it”

 

“I agree” said Henry “After all, I’m going to burn the rest of the Mikaelson. Stefan can’t be more desperate than you, Klaus. The question is… what’s your offer ?”

 

“My soul. Isn’t it the biggest price ?”

 

“A soul is democratic. Poor, riches, uglies… everyone can afford a Devil’s favor. Now, your soul, my brother, worths less than Stefan’s but as long as you live, your influence, your… cunning trickster mind… can be useful to me. You have to live, you have to fight. I want your life.”

 

“My life ?” Asked Klaus “Is this your price ?”

 

Henry came closer to him and whispered near to his lips “Always… and forever”

 

Then Henry grabbed his hand and held it tight. Henry smiled, he was holding Klaus’s fate in his hand, he could manipulate his brother however he wanted, whenever he wanted. Oh God, that’s was his favorite Birthday’s present.

Stefan was disgusted. He knew why Henry was so excited about this deal. He’d made the same thing Cade did with Stefan. Henry needed someone who could follow his orders on Earth, killing in his name, obeying.. Klaus would be his eyes and ears inside the Mikaelson’s family.

There was only one significant difference. Henry was smarter than Cade. Cade gave Henry the means to demote him. Henry didn’t. To turn someone into a Sinner Hunter, you needed his soul, not his life. Life wasn’t enough.

If Klaus became a Sinner Hunter, the risk he would try to demote Henry was too high. If Klaus remained a normal ‘hybrid’ instead… he would never compete with Henry. Also, if Stefan tried to do something wrong, Henry would kill Klaus, his soul to save.

Henry had both their fates in his hands. Without doing anything.

He looked at Cade and he could feel the Devil’s smile.

Cade had to be glad for the direction taken by the events.

Cade knew this. Cade…

Stefan smirked. In the end, the last word belonged to the one who pronounced the first.

 

“Alea iacta est… Stefan…”

 

Black in the green. Green in the black.

Stefan smiled with embittered.

Hell would follow him forever… that was an never-ending cycle… That was what Cade’d planned as well. Assuring that his Hellish kingdom.

In the end, both Henry and him was going to give themselves in the Hellfire at the same way… defeated.

 

“Not if I have a say in it…” said Stefan.

 

He grabbed Cade by face and kissed him. In that kiss Stefan was trying to confess to Cade all the things he wished he said a long time ago.

He was confessing his rancor toward Devil.

The rancor because Cade destroyed any innocent illusion he used to hold toward the world.

He was confessing his anger.

Anger was what he’d felt for most of his life.

He was confessing his sadness.

Sadness for all the lives he’d taken, lives not one but him felt sad for.

He was confessing his solitude.

Only a lonely killer could understand the loneliness of another killer.

He was confessing his gratitude.

Sometimes, you had to pass through Hell, to be allowed to surpass the door of Heaven. Stefan had suffered a lot to arrive at this point, he’d been through a lot, he murdered, he cheated, he deceived… He became so good at not living, at not existing, that existing was the only thing he didn’t know how to do. He didn’t even know how to talk normally with a person, he didn’t know how to be a good father for his little girl, he didn’t even know how to control the Ripper. But if he hadn’t made it, now he wouldn’t have had Eri, he wouldn’t have met Klaus. Maybe, after all this mess, he would finally have his reunion with his brother.

 

“Thank you… But Hell… can’t rule on Earth. Your fire would follow you into your death… and doom…”

 

“My death will be your doom… mark my words. You may or may not believe me, but… I’ve never wanted to hurt you… I only want you to evolve… Now maybe it’s time to play a different game…” said Cade with a little smirk.

 

“What’s game ?”

 

“Life. Use the bone dagger on me… send me away… to Sybil… so I can apologize to her… Don’t let me destroy Mystic Falls…”

 

The Hellfire exploded around him and Stefan had to do someone steps behind. Cade was losing his control over the Hellfire. He became a living bomb ready to explode. Stefan could clearly see in the eyes of the man he once considered the Devil, he saw his defeat.

Cade had been manipulated by Henry as him. In the same way.

Henry knew that when Cade for angry, really, angry, he could easily lose control over his temper and on Hellfire.

If Cade couldn’t regain his control on Hellfire…

Hellfire needed a container, something, or in case of Cade, someone strong enough to be able to contain all the Hellfire inside him.

Hellfire was created by Cade’s hatred, a feeling so intense that couldn’t be controlled by anyone, not even his own owner.

 

“You’re running out of time… Steffy…” said Henry looking at Matt, who was close the Bell “… so am I…. _Phasmatos superous em animi…”_

 

Matt began to scream for the pain and Stefan knew he had to act quickly.

 

“I sacrificed too much to arrive at this moment. I endured the worst of this hellish family… I promised not to send Mystic Falls in Hell with Cade, what else do you want to let me win ?” Asked Henry with anger.

 

“You used me. I was willing to forgive you, because Cade was your only target. But now I know that this will never end… You will never let me go… You will never stop to pursue your revenge.”

 

“Never… As I said… I sacrificed too much…”

 

Stefan was going to replay but Eri interrupted him.

 

“Otōsan… He can’t no longer control Hellfire…” said indicating Cade “If we don’t do something now… We will burn alive and Mystic Falls will be destroyed.”

 

“Open the portal Eri… You know the spell…” said Stefan.

 

“Masutā, dōshitara īdesu ka ?” Asked Shinichi (Master, what should I do ?)

 

“Shōsha no tame ni purē suru ka ikinokoru tame ni asobu.” (Play for the winner or play to survive).

 

“Anata no imōto no tame ni adobe” (Play for your sister) said Stefan.

 

“Nani ?” Asked Shinichi.

 

“Henry wa anata to anata no imōto o korosu tsumoridesu. Anata ga ima watashi o tasukete, watashi to keiyaku o musubunara, watashi wa anata o mamorimasu” (Henry has planned to kill you and your sister. If you help me now, make a deal with me, I will protect you).

 

“Anata wa sore o dono yō ni keikaku shite imasu ka ? Watashi no imōto wa kone juten de sudeni manā ni tsuite imasu” (How do you think to do it ? My sister will have already arrived at the Manor at this point)

 

“She won’t find the spheres there” said Stefan.

 

“What ?” Asked Henry stunned.

 

Stefan smirked then turned toward Henry “You’re not the only one who have an ace in the sleeve”.

 

It was only then they noticed that Eri Salvatore was no longer there.

 

Henry turned toward Stefan and asked “How deep you intend to involve her in all this ?”

 

“As long as it needs… to persuade her to keep fight or let go… I want her out… She would have been if it wasn’t for you”

 

“Don’t play this card Stefan…” said Henry “ I warn you”

 

Again… Green in the black…

Black in the green…

It was an never-ending circle for Stefan and he wondered where everything would be over for real. If there was a chance to be free with Cade, no he began to suspect that Henry had no intention of letting him go. If Eri was his anchor, Stefan was Henry’s ones. How could he not notice it before ?

How could he be so blind ?

Henry, who looked always so confident about his thoughts, decisions and ideal.

Henry, who had been a sort of mentor since their first met back in Chicago.

It hurt… so much that he wanted to cry. It hurt… because Stefan finally discovered the power of holding someone’s else heart in the hands and it belonged to the last person he desired to hurt.

He could hear, Henry’s heart beating in his chest, he wondered to have it in his hands. The same dirty hands that had killed fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, friends, enemies…

Brothers…

Was what he and Henry were right ?

Hell was a mark on their skins.

What if Stefan broke that bound now ?

What if Stefan wanted to be free ?

Would it be so selfish ? Would it be so cruel from his part ?

Henry didn’t realize he was holding his breath. He could only think about how important Stefan was for him in that moment. Stefan, his pawn turned into a Queen. The only person he trusted more than himself, even more than Dorian. Not matter how many times they betrayed each other, how ace in the sleeves they hide to each other or been used to thwarted each other’s plan, not matter how many times they used each other, there was something between them… that couldn’t be broken, couldn’t be ignored, but it hurt and that pain was felt by both of them.

It hurt, that the only person you could cling on wanted something so different from you.

It hurt, that you were doomed to leave behind the only family you’d ever had.

 

“I’m sorry Henry…” whispered Stefan, but for him it was more like he was shouting it.

 

“You’re sorry… Was my mother sorry… when she abandoned me… to save the others… ?” Asked Henry to himself.

 

“I don’t…”

 

“Has Damon… ever… felt… sorry for… you ?” asked Henry to no one in particular.

 

“I don’t…”

 

“We’re… alone… alone… Damon would never welcomed you back…”

 

“You can’t say that…”

 

Henry turned toward Cade, who was smiling there.

The raven hair boy started to cry. Their personal Hell was at his begin, they would never be able to escape.

That was the truth.

 

 

…

 

It’s been so long since she had such a valid opponent, in matter of magic. That was what Misao was thinking about the little witch. It was clear that Bonnie Bennet wasn’t much of a fighter, she barely was capable of pulling a punch, but at least she had the magic of a Bennet witch running through her veins and apparently, even more.

 

“You’re strong… But you still have a lot to learn about your power…”

 

Misao was still into her fox form, she was still absorbing all the sins from the people she was manipulating. The more violent the conflict, the more powerful was the sin she absorbed, so that she was able to create an illusion of her human shape.

Unfortunately, Bonnie was trying to stop the conflict trying she’d created between the other marionettes. Well, she manipulated her human form, so that she could attack Caroline Forbes.

Bonnie noticed it and tried to stop her with a spell.

 

“You’ve no idea how to deal with a kitsune, do you ?” Asked Misao grabbing Caroline’s faces “You had no idea we actually existed”

 

“Don’t care, she’s my friend and you want to hurt her”

 

“Hurt her ah ? Well, let’s see… Yoru ga owari, tsuki ga anata o musume, taiyō, chichioya to shite hitei shi, anata o sono hikari ni modus koto o kangei suru…” (The night has come to its end, the moon disavows you as a daughter, the sun, your father, welcomes you back into its light).

 

Caroline began to scream, the veins started to appear and disappear along her cheek and so did her fangs.

Bonnie couldn’t speak Japanese, but whatever Misao was doing to her friend, it had to be painful and cruel.

 

“What are you doing to her ?”

 

“I’m absorbing the magic who turned her into a vampire. Your friend is supposed to be dead, is no longer her body to keep her alive, but the magic inside her. If I take this magic out of her body, she will not be able to live anymore”

 

“It’s not possible, the cure…”

 

“The cure that runs inside Elena’s body is different. A kitsune’s magic is different than a witch’s ones. I can absorb magic as I can absorb sins.”

 

“Stop it !” Shouted Bonnie.

 

“Make me or… look at this”

 

The golden eyes of the fox shined and then she grabbed Kol Mikaelson with one tail and then it ate him alive.

Bonnie assisted at that scene, believing for a moment that it was nothing more than a nightmare.

Kol Mikaeson… was… just eaten alive… in front of her eyes… She could see… the blood and… the bones… falling on the… ground… Then, with another of her tail, she grabbed Elena, who was still faint on the ground. The fox threw her in the air, Bonnie tried to fight her but… She didn’t know any spell… she didn’t know how to fight…

She… remained… still… looking… at… that… fox… eating… Elena… alive…

Her blood and bones followed Kol’s on the ground.

How could it happen ?

How could it be possible ?

How could Misao do something so terrible ?

It wasn’t fair… it wasn’t right… It wasn’t supposed to end like that…

Someone screamed, loud, helpfulness, desperately, it was her, it was Bonnie, it was her, but she didn’t realized it. She wasn’t realizing anything in that moment.

She wasn’t realizing the sound of Elena’s bones falling on the ground, Misao’s voices in her head that was taunting him… the tail…

Misao hit Bonnie with one of her long tail, so violently, that Bonnie had no idea if her backbones were going to survive the impact. She closed her eyes, hoping not to feel too much pain, hoping for the moment she would reunite with Enzo, when she felt two little tiny arms around her waist. 

Was it the end ? She hoped it was. She hoped it could end now.

Because emptiness hurt too much. Because that attack hit her right in the heart. Because the pain was too much in that moment, more than she could bear. Because that was her end.

What was wrong with her being tired of fighting ?

Who could blame a lost helpless warrior ?

Who could understand her pain ?

Blood… defeat had its taste. Blood and salt. Because her tears melted with the blood of her tongue in her mouth. She was biting her tongue so strong, so deep, because she didn’t want the world hearing her scream.

Red was the color of the sky, of the sun that disappeared in that moment in front of her eyes. The disappearing of an happy tomorrow.

Red was the mark of her defeat.

Then she felt the ground under her feet and saw a little ginger girl in front of her.

Did the little girl… save her life ? How ?

She didn’t look familiar and sincerely Bonnie was a little scared.

What was the girl ? A vampire ? An hybrid ? A kitsune ?

The little ginger was analyzing her with her dark green eyes. She had oriental traits, despite her ginger hair and she was pale like a ghost, but her clothes remembered Bonnie one of those super heroines of anime.

 

“Who are you ?” Asked Bonnie.

 

“I’m Eri Salvatore. I saw you in danger and I helped you. How could you possibly fight Misao’s illusions ?”

 

 

“Salvatore ? You mean you’re… you’re the daughter of Stefan Salvatore, the one who teamed up with Sybil to destroy Mystic Falls, who pretended to…”

 

“What are you bubbling about ? My father didn’t do one of the things you’re blaming him for. You should have realized by now that whatever Stefan you met, it wasn’t the real one… but an illusion…”.

 

“It doesn’t change what your father did” said Bonnie.

 

“As you can’t change what your murderous friends have done when they turned their humanity off. If you can force yourself to be blind about their sins, then do a favor to me, be blind about ours too.” Said Eri.

 

“How can you ask me this ?”

 

“If you can’t do it… what are we talking about then ? If you want to collaborate, then be fascinated by this situation rather than unpleased, or I will put you aside”

 

“For someone so young, you have a rather cunning tongue”

 

“I dance with devils and I’m a kitsune. I must have a cunning tongue”

 

“Leave me alone” said Bonnie trying to stand up.

 

“Allow me to peek a little…”

 

Before Bonnie could answer, the little girl grabbed her face with both her hands and whispered some words in Japanese.Bonnie’s head hurt, she wanted the other to stop, she didn’t want anyone else inside her head after Sybil. She tried to push the girl away, but her headache prevented her to use enough strength.

Eri realized that something was wrong. Entering into someone’s mind had never been hard for her, not matter how resilience the other had. In the end, she had the key to open the door of anyone’s mind. Unfortunately, psychics were the only exception. Sybil, Cade and psychics in general, were the only creature who possessed a natural shield that could prevent someone of their kind or another creature to intrude inside their mind. That meant…

 

“You’re a psychic…” she muttered.

 

“What ? It’s not possible…”

 

“You’ve been unaware until now, that’s why your psychic abilities are still dormant.” Said Eri releasing her.

 

“Psychic ? It’s impossible. How could I…”

 

“Doesn’t matter right now. We have other things to deal with.” Said Eri “She’s after you”

 

As to confirm Eri’s words, a loud growl was heard by both of them and few seconds after the human shape of Misao appeared in front of them.

Eri realized soon that it wasn’t the real Misao, only an illusion created by her, something that the witch was already aware of.

Fortunately, Eri knew how to deal with her.

With a spell, she made Misao’s illusions disappeared, then she turned toward Bonnie.

 

“We need to hurry up. If my suspects about you are right, your powers will protect you in Hell… or you could remain here doing nothing”

 

“I can’t trust you. I lost too much already”

 

“And you’re going to lose more. I’m a kitsune, you’re strong but without the appropriate spells you can’t do anything against one of my kind”

 

“Are you offering to suggest me some spells to use against you ?”

 

“Of course not. Any girl needs to have an insurance. I’m young not stupid” 

 

“She ate alive two of my friends.” Whispered Bonnie

 

“She will eat all your friends… if you don’t collaborate with me” said Eri “Believe me… Red is my color too”

 

There was one important reason why kitsune had been capable of surviving all those centuries, it was because they were master at deceiving and also at keeping their own secrets. There was one rile any kitsune had to follow, not to reveal anything to others kind of creatures about their own natures and the way to defeat them, if not in case of extreme necessity.

Kitsune were the closest creatures to Goddess, there were few ways to kill them and low possibilities to actually commit them. It was the only way they could defend themselves from other creatures. Kitsune were dangerous creatures, it was the main reason why, before the appearance of werewolves and vampires, were the most hunted supernatural creatures. No place used to be safe for them.

Kitsune have been deceiving human kind since ever because of that.

Eri would find a way to erase Klaus’ memories about the balls, knowing that her otōsan would understand that.

 

“I’m desperate not stupid. I want to you to prove to me you can be trusted”

 

Bonnie couldn’t take any further risks. Last time she put her guard down, her boyfriend was killed. Not matter how young the ginger was, she couldn’t trust her.

 

“Fine”

 

Eri grabbed Bonnie’s hand, she opened a portal and then they appeared in front of the Armory, or at least in front of what had left of it. They saw the fog and Eri used her fox eyes to see the others who were still trying to attack and kill each other. Perfectly hidden by the fog, she saw the kitsune, in her fox shape.

She could fell the smell of blood, she saw it on the ground, near to pieces of bones and clothes.

Elena and Kol… they weren’t victims at random.

Kol was the first Mikaelson who understood that Henry was an Hunter it could be the only one who could manipulate Henry into giving his back to Cade. Kol was also the brother who accepted Klaus for who he really was. While Elijah wanted Klaus to change, to be less ruthless, less cruel and more like himself, Kol wanted Klaus to be himself and no one else.

Elena was the one who changed Damon’s life and general attitude toward humans. It was the one who looked for Stefan when she believed he could be the key for Damon’s Salvation.

In few words, Misao had just killed any possibility of forgiveness for Stefan and Henry from both of their families. Damon, due to his immaturity, would always blamed Stefan for this, as he’d always done.

The Mikaelson would never welcomed Henry again.

The families they’ve been struggling for… would never welcomed them again.

That was part of Cade’s revenge.

Well, Eri couldn’t bring them back, she could only save those whom still could be saved.

Misao had all her nine tails, against the three Eri had. Well, Eri was an Huntress now. She could be valid opponent to Misao.

 

“I got this… Itsi traissalaam, mastigahra, koimmunda, akhita libaarkeesk” (Surrender, witch unclean one, cursed spirit)

 

Verbis Diablo was always the answer against an enemy you had no choice to win against. The fog disappeared, the spell stopped to work, but Misao was still in her fox form.

Eri came closer to her then she used their telepathy but before she spoke to Bonnie.

 

“Now we will find out if what I’ve said is right. We’re going to communicate through our minds, if you’re determinate to have your prove, force your powers and read inside my mind”

 

“What ?” Asked Bonnie confused.

 

“Do as I say” said Eri

 

‘Listen me… There was an important turn of events… You need to trust me…’.

‘You’re teaming up with our enemies, how am I supposed to trust you ?’.

‘Because Cade is dying. He’s losing control over Hellfire, there’s not much time left. Also…’

‘Also… ?’

‘Henry planned your death’

‘My death ? Impossible. To kill me he needs to…’

’To kill Shinichi as well, in the same moment. I know. Henry wants both you and Scinchi out of the picture. You served Cade, Henry have been conspiring against Cade for almost six centuries, he almost won.’

‘How could be possible ? Cade would have known’

‘Cade too blindly believed in his lies.’

Meanwhile the two were conversing through their minds, Bonnie was trying to follow Eri’s suggestion and she used all her powers and will to read inside Eri’s mind.

She had no idea how to use her psychic abilities. Hell, she wasn’t even aware to have those powers few minutes ago. She had to concentrare… to focus on her powers…

‘Cade… dying… also… your… death…’

Different thoughts and different voices were confusing her head. She was inside Eri’s mind, that was a possible reason why she could hear Misao’s voice too. She concentrated more , so that she could follow their entire conversation.

‘You… served… Henry… conspiring…Possible… Cade for almost sic centuries, he almost won’.

‘Finally’ Bonnie thought. It was tiring, her head hurt, but she was willing to put up with the pain.

‘What do you propose ? An alliance ?’ Asked Misao.

‘A truce. I know… My fame among kitsune is everything but positive. Kitsune and vampires don’t get along, but meanwhile Kitsune abandoned me, a vampire adopted me. He loves me. If I’m here is because I own him’.

‘You don’t own no one for their loves’

‘He gave up on his own happiness for mine. We’re a family. He’s my family. I want to protect him. As you want to protect your brother’

‘You know nothing about me and my brother’.

‘I know that there are feelings between you and your brother… that God would never approve. Konshinsōkan wa tsumidesu’ (Incest is a sin)

‘Anata wa dono yō ni shite shirimashita ?”(How did you find out ?)

‘Dorian o bebīshittā shite ire ma ni sekkusu o shite wa ikemasen’ (You shouldn’t have made sex while babysitting Dorian).

‘English… please’ though Bonnie.

‘I want a deal… you have to help me to… invoke the hellish river. Hellfire can be absorbed or partially stopped in order to avoid the destruction. Your help and I will give you back your memories spheres…”

‘What ?’

‘Or I will brake them, destroy them.’

Misao hoped that little brat was baffling. She had to be. Where were their memories spheres ? Where did she hide them ?

Was she supposed to do ?

Free will was something necessary for a kitsune to survive. Without it, kitsune died. Stealing and hiding their sphere balls Eri stole her free will and Misao could already feel her feelings weakening. If she made a deal with the little huntress, it would be her choice, so Misao would act by her free will. If she led her doubts leading her judgment, she would be dead in few minutes.

‘Fine, we have a deal. I will help you. What do I have to do ?’

Funny, how hardest situation could be dangerous and mortal for goddess too.

People tended to overestimated kitsune, their ability in deceiving people. The truth was that someone was capable to deceive some else only when the they were desperate enough to fall for their tricks.

Eri knew that when it came to Shinichi, Misao lost lucidity and fell more easily in her trick. In the end kitsune were easily to pound, if you were better than them at their own game.

After all, no rule stated that who began the game was the one to finish it.

Eri was the most determinate of all to conclude it, she was even willing not to fight fair.

A kitsune was not good and not evil. A move was not good or evil… Eri was not good or evil…

But she was devoted to her otōsan and she the winning move belonged to her.

 

 

…

 

Freya did as she was told. She ran along the river until she saw Cade’s manor.

It was surrounded by high walls and the one way she could enter inside was through a gate.

While she was thinking about Dorian, who forgot to mention how she could open the gate, she heard the gate opening in front of her.

‘Weird…’ she though, dubious about entering or not.

Everything looked so much easy, it was strange that no beast or monster inside Hell tried to eat her alive.

As someone had planned her to arrive there since the begin.

Could all of that being nothing more than a trap ?

Could Dorian being part of that ?

Could be her that was being paranoid ?

She knew that Cade and his hunters weren’t in Hell, but that wasn’t enough to make her feel less… frantic. She was alone, in Hell, with no way to escape from it, without any knowledge of the enemies she was going to find there.

She promised to herself, that if she andher boy survived, she would go to Church any Sunday’s morning.

Only a miracle would help her to survive that night. At least, if she found the memory spheres, the two kitsune twins would die and her family would be safe. She ran toward the main door. She ran even faster when she heard growls nearby. Apparently, Cade’d left guard dogs to surveil the garden, if those beasts were actually dogs and not something worse. Frankly, Freya didn’t want to find out.

When she arrived in front of the main door, she wasn’t a little hesitant to open the door, but then she heard the growls again , so she pushed the door and entered.

The main hole was almost empty and disturbing. The main colors were violent and purple. There was a round mahogany table, on it there was a deck of keys and a vase of violet roses. On the first floor there were two in from, two on the right side, one on the left ones. Two long corridors were at the both sides.

_‘… second floor, left corridor, seventh door on the left…’,_ Freya thought.

She went up the stairs, walked through the left corridor but when she arrived in front of the sixth door and she realized that there wasn’t a seventh one. There was only a giant big picture with five spheres and fire painted on it.

Inside each sphere there was a scene painted inside. On the first scene there were three kids who were playing together with dolls, in the second sphere there was a couple. The boy was giving to his girl a necklace with lock-shaped pendant…

It was that sphere that caught Freya’s attention.

The lock inside the picture was small enough to be opened by one of the keys in the deck and tried. She tried all the keys until she found the right one, which opened the picture. She grabbed the frame of the picture with her fingers and pushed it aside, Behind the picture, there was a wooden door.

 

“Seriously ?” She said exasperated.

 

She was tired of playing in treasure hunt. She wanted all that story to end, as soon as possible. She’d just put the key in the lock, when she heard a voice behind her.

 

“I wouldn’t do it, if I were you”

 

It took several minutes to understand who belonged the female voice. Freya’d encountered that woman only once in her life. The woman in front of her was barely recognizable. Katherine Pierce. Her face was half burned, her beautiful curls died out, in their place short sparse hair and a long burn scar was visible on the neck.

She was wearing white large clothes, probably because her body was almost completely covered with scars.

 

“How could you be… alive ?” Asked Freya.

 

“I’m not alive indeed. Hellfire completely destroyed my body and my soul. For my body… there’s nothing he could do at the moment. Even though it’s hard to admit and I used to consider myself the best tricker and survive on Earth, Cade utterly manipulated me. Henry’s manipulating Dorian”

 

“What do you want to say ?” Asked Freya crossing her arms.

 

“I want to say… that walls have no eyes but they do have ears. You’ve no idea of the things I’ve heard since Eri Salvatore burned my soul. Let me tell you something… You’ve been betrayed.”

 

“By who ? Henry ? He kidnapped my son’

 

“He raised him after you’d attempted suicide. But it’s not what I mean. Who told you to come here to find the spheres ?”

 

“Dorian, it was the only way to kill the twin kitsune” answered Freya “Dorian was determinate to protect me, and the family he wants to be part of for real”

 

“Only your son could deceive a smart woman like you, Freya. Dorian was originally sent here to kill you, to prove Cade his loyalty toward the Devil. Cade offered Dorian power, immortality, beauty, youth… Henry offered him one more thing.”

 

“What ? A revenge ? Dorian declined. He understood that I didn’t abort because I didn’t want a child.”

 

“Understood ? Maybe. Forgave you ? Not yet. If you enter inside that room, you won’t get out of there”

 

“You’re crazy, and desperate” said Freya.

 

Freya was getting angry and her lucidity had come to the limit. She had no intention of wasting more time in bullshit. Her son, her family needed her to hurry up and Katherine Pierce was delaying her.

At least, that bitch was too… ruined, to be a real threat for her. Reduced in those condition, Freya could easily defat her without even using her magic. Also, Katherine Pierce died with the cure running through her body, if before she managed to run fast and be strong as a vampire, it was only because her body was intact and Cade lent her some of his powers. Now, she was a walking corpse.

Katherine was aware of Freya’s option about her. Probably Klaus had a lot of fun sharing their past to the new depressing wild dog of Mikaelson family.

When she found out that Henry was a Mikaelson and what he was planning to do to destroy his former family once and for all, she had no hesitation and accepted his deal.

After all, Henry proposed her the better offer.

 

“I’m also… dying again… Because I made a deal with Henry. I asked him if my daughter was here in Hell. He showed me her soul. She’s suffering here in Hell, for all the bad choice I’d pushed to do while searching for me. She was so desperate to have a mother, not matter how hatred she held for me after all those years. The minimum I could for her was making a deal with Henry. My soul in change of hers.”

 

It wasn’t a lie, not completely. Cade threatened her to kidnap her daughter’s soul in the other side, as he’d done with Esther Mikaelson’s ones, in Hell. Henry assured her that once he defeated Cade, he would do the same, if until then she was one of his enemies.

Katherine was a cruel, selfish, manipulative and long list of other attributes, but she didn’t want to be a terrible mother.

She knew that Henry would never allow her to survive, due to her fame and due to her attitude. Henry was too smart to do it.

’Not leaving anything to chance’, that was Henry’s motto and the youngest of Miakelson knew that, in case of danger, Katherine would be the first to betray him and letting him to drown. Also he wasn’t interesting in her talents, nor into have an affair with her and everything Katherine could offer to him, he could have easily on his own.

 

“Then why are we having this conversation ? If you have chosen to side with Henry, then why are you telling me this ? ” Asked Freya.

 

“Because… If you choose him, Dorian’s chosen Henry. Dorian took you here and then abandoned you, telling you to go here, leaving the deck of keys… is because he wants to trap you in Hell, to torture and torment you”

 

“No. It’s a lie. Dorian has no reason to trust me, but he’s not the only one who had to fight for a family. I fought to be accepted in the Mikaelson family. I had to fight against Klaus’s mistrust, Dahlia’s hatred, Esther… I can understand my son better than anyone”

 

“Do you ? If you enter inside that door… you will remain trapped inside here forever. If you instead are willing to listen to me, you will find a way to escape from here”

 

“Leaving Dorian behind ? No, way, I’m not going to do it”

 

Katherine bite her lower lip. Apparently she had to change her strategy. She knew that a mother could be stubbornness when it came to her children, but Freya had been a mother for how long, one hour ? Two ?

Katherine herself fatigued to recognize Nadia as her daughter. Being a mother was different than feeling a mother, feeling responsible for someone’s else lie, being responsible for someone else was always difficult for Katherine. Her daughter died to protect her mother and Katherine could do nothing to prevent it. But she could prevent Henry to drag her in Hell. It was the right thing to do.

Dorian was and always would be a Knight, not a Mikaelson, never. That was what Henry wanted. That was what Katherine had to ensure.

 

“You care so much about that boy already… but how can you be sure he’s your biological son ?”

 

Freya froze. She opened her mouth to deeply something, but the truth was that she didn’t know what to say. The reality was that she’d never actually thought at the possibility of Dorian not being her son. She had never pondered the probability that Henrik could lie to her, not about her son.

Dorian was the photocopy of her and Mathias but… that was everything. Maybe the similarity was simply a coincidence. Maybe Dorian wasn’t her son. Maybe he didn’t even wanted to deceive her, maybe Dorian naively believed in Henry’s lies too.

Her hands began to tremble, she almost lost her grip on the deck.

Tears started to run along her cheeks and her lower lips began to tremble.

She put an hand on her chest and held tight the shirt she was wearing. A sense of mourning filled her heart, again, as she’d just lost her beloved son once again without be able to do anything to stop it.

She could barely breath, the pain in her chest, the desperation of her soul was too much to be handle alone.

Her son… her baby…

She looked at the lock and for a moment all her doubts she have been trying to ignore until now overwhelmed her.

It couldn’t be possible… her brother was cruel but she couldn’t’ believe… she didn’t want to believe…

Katherine was smiling at her sufferance. Freya was a Mikaelson, she was the sister of the monster who made her life a living hell, who made her live in fear, who took everything away from her. All his beloved deserved to suffer.

‘It was only a lie…only a… lie’ Freya thought.

 

“No, it wasn’t a lie”

 

 

…

 

Dorian knew what was happening inside Cade’s Manor. Henry had analyzed and planned everything without letting anything to chance. Not even his role in all that story. Freya Mikaelson may was a good person, probably would have been a good mother for him, he wouldn’t be a good son for her, he couldn’t give her what she needed, a son able to love her. She looked at Seline, or at what remained of her and smiled.

 

“You’ve done a good job.” He said smiling at her.

 

“Always honored to serve the Master who will destroy Cade. It’s only because of him if I’m these conditions… surrounded by those hideous worms”

 

“Don’t worry… this torture won’t last long…”

 

Dorian grabbed her flute and began to play it. He started to play Sybil’s song again and suddenly, the waters of Hellish river began to be absorbed. The Gongers tried in vain to grabbed the water with their skeletal fingers and so Seline. No one of them could survive too long out of the waters.

Dorian didn’t finish there.

There was a second thing he had to do, to gain his plan in the future Hellish generation.

He was strong enough to be able to play the music to absorbs the the hellish river and to use his only mind to control the Hellfire.

There wasn’t a lot around him, the worst case scenario planned by Henry became truth. Cade alone couldn’t control on his own all the Hellfire in Hell. The hatred of human couldn’t be compared to the hatred a creature powerful like him could feel.

Cade’s hatred have been growing through the centuries, a feeling so strong almost impossible to control.

Not even the hellish river would be enough to turn off the fire. Someone was going to die burned and firsts would be…

‘ _I_ _tsi redreyii en kailfernum igiirtekh. Itsi hun eukfaah sromanaht mendafa’. Itsi eukseepowaa’ maa’. Ullag nehosellu, kosta atsüü.’ (_ Return to the fires of Hell. Starve and die. Rot and die. Unholy demon, evil woman).

There was something disturbing in the way humans were determinate to sacrifice each other, even in the face of death, even few seconds before their doom.

Seline tried to use the Gongers around her as shield, but in the end, Hellfire was too strong and soon everything Dorian could hear a part from his flute was her screams.

There was something so damn wrong in the insane pleasure Dorian was feeling while Seline was burning in front of him.

Was that the divine judgement ?

Was that God’s will ?

Dorian closed his eyes and his thoughts about what was wrong or right for God, for Eri, or Stefan.

It was right for him. Seline was a cruel woman and an hideous creature, she deserved to rot and of her soul didn’t have to remain even its dust. About her memories… no one would ever know she’d ever existed. She didn’t deserve to survive through the memories.

That was his sentence.

That was what Dorian wanted for real. Revenge.

If he found himself in that situation it was only because of other’s people cruelty.

Dahlia kidnapped Freya to hurt Esther after she’d abandoned her for Mikael.

Freya killed him to spite Dahlia.

His second mother was death because Cade sentenced he didn’t need to have a mother.

Henry got hurt because of the Mikaelson’s family.

Dorian allowed himself to shred only one tear when he realized that her mother left the deck of keys falling on the floor.

Henry was right. She would never fight for him. She would always believe others over him. He would never be completely welcomed into the Mikaleson family.

Freya Mikaleson failed him and Dorian would have his revenge for this. But first, he needed to do another thing.


	49. The Path to Dawn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He could finally thank fate because finally something had awakened him from his state of torpor.  
> A purpose.   
> A motivation.  
> A fate.  
> A doom.  
> A wish.  
> A path.   
> A push to learn how to use those legs that were not yet ready to support him and his pain, but they would be. He didn’t learn to walk because he had nowhere to go, nothing worth enough the fatigue. Something that could persuade him to commit the first step.

Freya looked up, trying to hide the tears along her cheeks, ashamed of showing her weakness and pain that way.In front of her there was the female kitsune, Misao. Both Freya and Katherine looked surprised to see her there.

The Huntress had no idea that a kitsune would have showed up eventually.Something was wrong, that was clear. Misao’s presence at the Manor wasn’t planned and that was enough to scared Katherine out of her wits.

Again, not for herself, but for her daughter, Nadia.

That kitsune was a problem now, a problem that apparently Henry had no idea how to fix. The problem with a kitsune was always the same, what was the truth ? What a lie ? What a simple trick ?

 

“I can hear your thoughts, Katherine Pierce, I warn you not to waste more energy in something you cannot understand. Not now, not without so many things you don’t know”

 

“I know enough to know you’re not supposed to be here” said Katherine.

 

“Not even you. You should be…”

 

“I’m exactly where I should be.” Answered Misao with a smirk that promised any good intentions “Where was I ? Oh yes. It wasn’t a lie. Dorian is your biological son. Katherine and Henry made a deal. A son for a daughter. If she demonstrated not to be a good mother, her daughter’s soul would have been spared. This is the truth”

 

“A possible version.” Said Katherine “Which truth do you believe in ?”

 

That was the best and the worst of lies.

Lies had the power to create, confuse and destroy realities, world, people and situations.

They could be kind as a caress. Painful like an arrow in the chest. A valid weapon for tongues that didn’t hesitate to harm, to deceive, to play.

A perfect torture for minds easily to manipulate.

What was the truth ?

What was the lie ?

What was the word to solve the puzzle ?

Who believe ?

The kitsune, mistress of lies, or the heartless huntress of envy ?

Freya was tired of people playing so much about the most painful moment of her life. No one of them had the right to use her boy against her, like a knife to stab a putrified womb that would never be full with another life.

Why they had to be so cruel ? Did she deserve all that pain ?

It was the worst torture a mother could suffer. So many words, only one corridor, one stairs and two gates separated her from her ’son’.

How could she look Dorian in the eyes now and being totally sure he was her son ?

How could not she cry now that she felt like they’ve stolen her son twice from her ?

How could she survive that pain ?

Revenge, family, love… all the things that used to give her the necessary push to wake up any morning suddenly lost all their importance. Suddenly all the world lost all its importance. World was only a word belonged to a misshapen reality that kept to make her suffer. And she hated it.

She hated that world too cruel for anyone.

She hated the heart that made anyone too weak to face the challenge of a world that ripped apart the souls, turned them into marionettes to play with and then let its creature to die.

Intoxicating was the beauty of the perfect lie. Dorian Knight…

Freya opened and closed her mouth various times, trying to answer but she couldn’t, her voice didn’t want to come out. Because nothing existed until words made it real. Nothing that was not told or spoken about existed. If she answered that Dorian was her son, it would made real, for her; if she answered that Dorian wasn’t her son, it would made it real as well.

 

 

“Be God” said Misao “Create your reality. After all, you’ve nothing to lose. You’ve been living with so many lies coloring your days…”

 

“Yes keep lying to yourself and believe that Dorian is your biological son. Keep lying to yourself. After all, you will never have your son back. You know it” said Katherine.

 

“Not if you fail this test. You looked that child in the eyes, in his face. You’ve been blessed with a gift that few people received. The possibility to be a mother again. Don’t let lies dictate your decisions”

 

“Shut up… Shut up… Shut up !!” Shouted Freya.

 

She needed to think. She needed clarity. She needed seconds, she needed…

 

“I’m sorry” whispered a voice behind her.

 

Freya frozen then turned around and saw Dorian. His blues eyes, so similar and yet so different from Mathyas’s, because how could she claim that he was the son of the man she loved with all her heart at that point ?

For a moment she didn’t care if Dorian was heartbroken as her, what was the point if he wasn’t her son ?

Dorian bite his lip. Apparently Henry was right, there wasn’t a right age to suffer. Sufferance, as death and disgrace, was democratic. Dorian was suffering. Dorian. was. suffering.

Suffering wasn’t a fault, he wasn’t weak only because his mother’s sincerity hurt.

 

“I’m sorry if you’re in this position. If you don’t know whether I’m your son or not, you will understand that. Eventually. For the moment… Believe it or not. For the moment… All of you are monsters and all of you hurt me.” Dorian looked at Katherine and said “You suck as mother. It’s not taking my mother away from me that you will have your daughter back.”

 

Katherin bite his lip, suddenly felt terrible ashamed.

 

Dorian turned toward Misao “Love is not a sin, but incest is a crime. If God doesn’t punish, I will. I personally helped Eri to remove the spheres from here.”

 

Misao paled visibly “īe, anata wa shimasendeshita. Anata wa uso o tsuite imasu” (No, you didn’t. You’re lying)

 

“Watashi wa, hahaoya no ai ga hoka no naniyori mo tsuyokatta ka dō ka o shiritakatta nodesu. Watashi wa Eri tomo kyōryoku shite ita nimokakawarazu, Henry no keikaku ni dōi shimasu. Watashi wa jōkākādodesu, watashi wa don’na hōhō demo shiyō dekimasu. Nin’i no keishiki o turo. Katta.” ( I wanted to know if a mother's love was stronger than anything else. I agree with Henry's plan even though I collaborated with Eri too. I'm the Joker card, I can be used in any way. Take any form. I won.)

 

Dorian was feeling what probably any winner felt in the moment of their triumph. Everything looked so messy and wrong, when Eri proposed him to hide the twins’ spheres somewhere else. Misao and Shinichi were loyal only to Sybil, nor to Cade, Henry or someone else. Dead the Queen, dead their loyalty.

For this reason Cade had decreed that he no longer needed their service.

In the end, it was only a strategy. The twin kitsune were powerful warriors, two of the strongest kitsune of Cade’s army. Cade needed their power to the final phase of his plan, but the truth was that he was already working out a plan to get rid of them. Henry simply anticipated him.

Henry and Eri actually.

Well, no more words were needed with Misao.

He looked at his mother and took his breath.

He looked at her intensely, because he didn’t want to forget any detail of her face. He didn’t want, one day, thinking about his mother with blue eyes instead of green. He didn’t want to forget the shape of her lips, her features. The pain inside her eyes.

 

“We will meet again… I will prove I’m your son. I will… and that day… you will regret to have let me go in this moment. I will grow up, I will learn all the things life has to teach. Someone else will be my father. When I will be ready, You will apologize to me”

 

“Dorian, I…” tried to say Freya.

 

“Spare me. You’ve been blessed by a second chance. What I sad has value only if God blesses you with a third chance”

 

“What do you mean ?”

 

A sadistic smiled adorned his porcelain face. He was angry, he was hurt. He was feeling the wrath that apparently has been burning inside Eri’s heart since she found out her otōsan was a Sinner Hunter.

The wrath that only a lonely soul who had gone through Hell alone could understand.

It was the wrath that only a rejected child could understand,

A fire ignited inside his heart, ran through his vein, making him feel something, making him feel like a normal being fro the first time. Any man had the right to become a sinner if they wanted to, any man had the right to blow the world in flames if they wanted to, any man had the right to gamble with fate if they wanted to.

Dorian was going to do all three things and in the end, there would be no winner but him.

 

He used the knock-out spell “Phasmatus Somnus”

 

All three the woman fainted on the ground. Dorian drove his wheelchair until he got closer to Freya.He allowed his eyes to look at her for one more time. He wanted to remember any single detail of the woman who broke his heart, of the woman who hadn’t tried anything to bring him back differently from Henry, who chose to dedicate herself to Klaus’s daughter leaving him behind. Freya forgot about him a long time ago. She didn’t believe he was her son, well then, he was more than justified for what he was going to do.

 

“Welcome in Hell, mother.”

 

He created a portal to escape from the Manor. He ended up into the garden, where he knew that only Cade’s wild dog were, no one else who could ruin his plan, who could stop him from pursuing his intention.

 

Inside that Manor, there all the tragedy of his life started.

Dorian was tired of ebbing a simple observant, now he wanted to participate and next act belonged to him.

 

“Phasmatos motus incendiarios”

 

Part of the Hellfire inside the flute went out and started to burn the Manor, entering from any window. Destroying anything in his way.

Katherine Pierce would never survive by another attack from Hellfire. Only a miracle could save his mother this time and about Misao… he had all the time to retrieve the spheres and crushed them under his wheelchair.

If there was another thing he’d learnt in Hell, it was that in Hell there was no forgiveness.

Maybe he chose a dangerous path but he didn’t care.

Henry was right, he couldn’t suffer for things that didn’t belong to him in the first place, but those few moments with his mother belonged to him but with one simple hesitation she ruined everything.

He was a child who hated like an adult

 

…

Both Henry and Stefan felt it… Almost like they were the victims.

Stefan could hear the sound of Elena’s bones under Misao’s teeth, the sufferance growing inside Damon’s heart and the sense of guilt that was making him feel sick. Hell didn’t follow only him, he followed Damon too and for all that mattered, Stefan considered him a personal failure. He promised to protect Damon from Cade, it was the reason of all his efforts through the centuries. In the end, Damon’s girlfriend had been involved in the crossfire between them and the Devil. An innocent victim, someone who had nothing to do with them.

It wasn’t fair.

The world they were living in was cruel and unfair, but Stefan could prevent her death. If he had thought faster about Henry’s plans, if he had elaborated another plan in time, now she would have been alive and Damon would have been happy in few years, maybe married and with children.

At least Damon was no longer a vampire, his rage would no longer represented a threat for human kind and if his brother found a way to hurt people again, Stefan would try to stop him. He did so much to save Damon from darkness and sacrificed a lot of things to protect him, so Stefan would never permit Damon to ruin everything.

Henry instead, for once since that beginning of his master plan, didn’t know hoe he actually felt. He knew why Cade ordered miso to kill Kol among all his siblings. Kol was the closest of his siblings, the first one who believed he could still be alive, the one who maybe would forgive him first. Kol used to be his second favorite sibling, who didn’t like babysitting him like Klaus but who invented thousand different stories only to make him smile.

Kol… if he didn’t know how to feel about his ultimate death, he wondered how Klaus would feel about it. Would he suffer ? Or his incapacity of protecting his beloved ones became an habit at this point ?

After all, that wasn’t the first time that Kol died, it wasn’t the first time that Klaus let someone slipping through his fingers and falling toward their doom, without doing nothing.

And his other siblings ? Would they suffer ? Or would they simply forget Kol, as they’ve done with Finn and him ?

Of course they would. It was the policy of Mikaelson, ignore everything could put into discussion their actions; forget about the lives they took and the people they lost; doing nothing if not for their own interests.

Poor Kol. Henry would better enjoy the moment until it lasted.

Misao should have killed Rebekah or Elijah, it would have hurt Klaus a little bit more than Kol’s death. In the end, Henry didn’t even want Klaus to suffer to much, he simply wanted to exercise a complete and indisputable control over him. If he could control Klaus, he would always have a way to control Stefan, without him, Stefan had no reason to fight Henry’s fight against Cade or any future fight. Henry didn’t want to hurt Stefan, but their relationship was a business he’d invested too much on to permit Stefan to stand up and leave forever.

He turned toward Cade and laughed.

 

“Who do you think you’ve hurt ? Me ? You hurt my ego not my heart. I sincerely didn’t expect it” said Henry coming closer to Cade “Kol’s dead. You ordered it”

 

“Did you really think to be the only one to have aces in the sleeve ? I surely didn’t expect your betrayal, but I did expect something to go wrong today. I couldn’t risk one of you to come back to your families, I had to be sure to destroy any possibility of forgiveness for any of you. Now that we’re playing with uncovered cards, I can sincerely admit that I don’t regret” said Cade “You deserve to suffer…” said toward Stefan “… You deserved to be hated by your family. This time your siblings would have a valid reason to want to forget you”

 

“What did you say ?” Asked Klaus.

 

Stefan turned toward the blond. He didn’t want Klaus to know about Kol’s death in that way.

‘Did you know it ?’ Asked Klaus through his mind to Stefan.

’No...’ answered Stefan.

Hehad no idea, he was too focused on his own winning moves to consider Cade’s winning ones.

Stefan knew that encouraging Henry’s plan against his family, giving his support, would be enough to remain in the good side of his other ‘brother’. He only concentrated on Henry, naively believing that Henry knew all Cade’s moves.

He should have known that Henry only focused on his plans. As long as his plans worked, nothing else mattered for the raven haired Hunter.

That was Stefan’s biggest mistake.

 

“I had no idea… I didn’t want it to happen. There should have been only one victim, Cade. When we came here we completely focused in your plan that we underestimated all the collateral damages and…”

 

“And what ? I don’t accept excuses. No one of my family… !” Klaus began to shout.

 

“Your family has been in danger since the begin. It was Henry’s main target since ever. I’m sorry if I realized too late that Henry hate all of you so much.”

 

“You knew he was my brother. You should have told me since the begin !”

 

“It wouldn’t have changed a thing. No word, or apology. Don’t you understand ? Henry is too lost in his passions to care about forgiveness or redemption. He’s lost into a completely cynical and cruel materialistic vision of the world, where everything mattered are things capable of maintaining their youth, their original beauty.”

 

“You’re bubbling nonsense. You don’t know what he needs”

 

“I perfectly know what he needs. I’m an Hunter too. Don’t forget it. Never forget it. No everyone can be saved. Unfortunately Henry didn’t find his soul to save in time” said Stefan.

 

“He doesn’t need any soul to save. He only needs his family.”

 

“No, Klaus. You’ve lived this situation with me. Your soul to save is that soul you’re willing to burn in Hell forever for. The soul that you have to help to redeem, not matter at what cost, not matter if the other loves or not love you or whether your help is accepted or not. It’s that soul you put in discussion any single actions or decisions. Nobody can’t be save alone, you need the right person to walk through the path together. If you’re not so lucky, perdition is the sentence”

 

“I don’t want to believe you. I can’t. I can’t leave him behind…” begged Klaus starting to cry.

 

…

 

_It was such a beautiful sight, the sun would have been risen in few hour in yet nature always fascinated him. During the night, a storm happen, but that morning, that morning there was an intense perfume of wet grass, united with the ones belonged to vervain flowers. Niklaus loved smelling that sweet familiar essence._

_Nature was enchanting in her pure form, Nik wished to live a long life to make immortal that perfect rural scene he had the fortune to admire any morning. He wanted to spend any second of his life drawing mornings like that._

 

_“Nikky…”_

 

_A childish voice caught his attention. He turned his face toward that level creature and smiled._

_Henrik’s smile was the best morning greeting Klaus could ever receive. It was so innocent, so genuine and bright, more than stars and sun. Despite his eyes were black, there was a light inside them, the light that any child should have reflect in the eyes. Henrik had all the world ready to be discovered, millions adventurous Nik hoped to shared with him._

 

_“Good morning kiddo.” Said Nik pinching one red cheek “Why are you already awake ?”_

 

_Henry shrugged “I had a nightmare. I dreamed a woman, who wanted to take me away. She scared me”_

 

_Then he sat next to Nik and put his head on the blond’s shoulder, trying protection from him. Nik hugged him into his arms and kissed him on the top of his head._

 

_“No one would ever hurt you Henry. Do you still have the knight I made for you ?”_

 

_Henry nodded “Yes, it’s under my pillow. I was holding it all during the nightmare. It was the first thing I saw after woken up”_

 

_“I will always protect you, Henrik. Always”_

 

_Henrik looked at him, studying him with his black eyes, then he smiled and nodded “I know. My big brother would never leave me behind.”_

 

_Then he surrounded Niklaus with his tiny arms and held his brother tight. Almost as he feared that Niklaus could disappear anytime._

_Niklaus was the dearest of his sibling for him, Henrik loved him with all his heart and one day he hoped to be exactly like him. Strong, brave, compassionate, talent, skillful, smart._

_Nik was his armor knight always ready to protect him. Niklaus kissed him on the black hair again then a mischievous idea formed inside his mind._

 

_“What would you say if I take you to see the werewolves ?”_

 

_He almost laughed for Henrik’s expression, although he understood it perfectly. Their father always denied them to come too much closer to werewolves, specially during their transformation. He told them they were unstable, most of them weren’t able to control their instinct during their transformation, having no conscience or control over their actions. Sometimes, they even attacked their friends and families because they didn’t recognize them as similars. Nevertheless Nik have been feeling, since his birth, a sort of fascinating connection with them, as there was a part of him who could understand werewolves as himself. A part of him looked at them with wonder, a part of him who was screaming to be free, to be discovered. A part of him that was telling him he belonged to the wolves. Nik steadily oppressed that part of him, silencing it._

 

_“Father prohibited it. He said it’s dangerous”_

 

_“Father would never know. I promise…” said Niklaus winking and grabbing Henrik’s little hand “… Even though something goes wrong, I will protect you”_

 

_“Will you ?”_

 

_“Of course. Whose your number one hero ?”_

 

_Henrik answered without hesitation “It’s you”_

 

_“And who’s my number one knight ?”_

 

_“Me !!”Henrik almost shouted._

 

_“Shh, or you’ll wake father up” Nik stood up then he said “Go take your knight. Hurry up, before the sun rise. Or it will be too late”_

 

_Henrik nodded, then excited ran to grab the knight. Nik looked at him smiling._

_No one of them knew that both of them had just committed the first step toward their fate and doom. That they had just planted the first seed to mature a misshapen monster called hatred._

_No one of them knew that there was a Siren who observed the entire scene. No one of them knew that that lonely Siren was the Queen of Hell, bride of Devil._

_No one of them knew her sufferance due to her lifeless womb, no one of them knew she chose someone of them to be her son._

_No one of them knew that with her song she would have instigate a wolf to attack the little boy._

_No one of them knew that that they both of them died. Henrik and Niklaus._

_No of them knew that their face would be covered by a mask forever, Henry and Klaus._

_The Sinner Hunter and the Hybrid King of Vampire._

_The Greedy and the Power._

_The lonely knight and the broken hero._

_No one of them knew that fate positioned them in two different sides of the same chessboard, no one of them knew that, one day, they would try to destroy each other._

_…_

 

“I couldn’t protect him” whispered Klaus.

 

“It’s not your fault. Henry’s fate was chosen longer before. I couldn’t save him either, not matter how much I tried. I knew he had a family, I tried to persuade him to come back to them. He refused to listen to me.”

 

“I have to save him, Stefan”

 

“Klaus, there’s two tragedy that could happen in someone’s life. Get what they want and not get what they want. Henry needs to end his tragedy, before to fully understand what he really wants”

 

“Should I let him fall even deeper ?”

 

“You learnt it by yourself. Not matter how many times your siblings tried to save you. Only time helped you to learn all your mistakes. Henry is at the peek of his glory and believe me, he won’t let anyone to get in his way. Broken people like him, will destroy themselves eventually and when this happen…”

 

“I will be there with him”

 

“We will be there with him”

 

“How long should I wait ?”

 

“As long as you thing you can handle it. Damon left because he couldn’t handle anymore. I will never blame him for it. But I know you, you are stronger than him and more determinate. Family for you is power, so keep it in mind”

 

Klaus wanted desperately to be persuaded by Stefan’s pragmatism, but a part of him was afraid of it. Would have behaved at the same way in his place ?

The warm of hell turned into ice the hearts of Hunters ?

Maybe Klaus would have had a complete different opinion of the world if he had been in Stefan’s place. It wasn’t that Klaus didn’t know the dark side of the world, he used to be what the man feared not to long ago, but Stefan knew, he’d tasted a darkness that Klaus himself could only imagine. What was to considerate a miracle was that Stefan, somehow, succeeded to remain a decent person but he was also broken, not belong remain, but broken and the burden the King of Hell had put on his shoulder, the mark around his wrist, where there was the silver bracelet, would remind Stefan the Hell he’d been through forever.

 

“As your scars” said Stefan.

 

“What ?” Asked Klaus “Can you suddenly…”

 

“No. I noticed you were looking at my wrist, you looked sad and I guessed. I’m happy you understand the fully extent of all the damages that this last century has provoked on me. I know, or I will, your pain as well. I know that you’re suffering, I know that not matter how hard you tried, the dark side always finds a way to obscures your judgment. I know that even the people who claimed to love you, have betrayed you more than once. I love you and I want my own opportunity to make you felt loved by me” said Stefan.

 

“Are you still convinced of this ? After everything happen to us ?”

 

“At the beginning, I would have been happy with a simple friendship, but then… Then I wanted your pain to be mine, to handle it together. I want to be that hand that could guide you, that could offer you a valid support. I know that we will fight, that things will be hard sometimes but I’m not scared and I won’t run away again”

 

“Never again ? Because, even though you have my heart right now, you surely have to to do a long way before to gain my trust again. When you left without nay explanations, it hurt. At all. If there’s one thing worse than knowing is not knowing. You’ve no idea about how many thoughts ran through my mind the morning after.”

 

“I will… I swear… I will fix everything I broke.”

 

Stefan meant, because for the first time in long time he was determinate to commit himself into something he didn’t have any direct experience about. He didn’t love anyone before, he was also convinced not to want receive love, neither to give it to someone else.

Love was a bet you made with fate. Unfortunately, most of the time, you lost it and fate took everything away from you. Time, happiness, your heart.

For once, Stefan wanted to really believe that he could find something wonderful in what he could create with Klaus. They would start something new… but first he needed to leave the past behind.

He looked over Henrik and Cade who were animately conversing.

 

“Why ? Don’t they have one already ?” Asked Henry “I became an Hunter to kill them all. That was the deal between you and my mother. I’m simply accomplishing to my primary job. Destroying Mikaelson family. I also don’t care if people hate me. I hate some people and I want them to suffer” said Henry shrugging.

 

 

“Closing up your heart inside your childish resentment won’t protect it forever. In the end, you will forget forever the difference between the desire of being loved and adored.”

 

“One thing didn’t preclude the other. Someone who loves you adores you”

 

“Not exactly. Gods are adored, men loved. Someone who idolizes you see all the merits, the aspect of you that make you even more perfect. It’s an unfair relationship. Someone who loves you accepts the defects too. Accepts you in the failure and remembers you after your death.”

 

“I don’t want to be a God. I ceased to be a man a long time ago. I’m a ghost who wants to see all this damn world burn. I will bring chaos and pain in this world. You gave me no choice. This is a cruel world, but I will survive today. You won’t”

 

The history would never know the last words of the Devil., before to be stabbed with the bone dagger by Stefan, from behind, like Brutus stabbed Caesar. Like them, Stefan couldn’t’ understand the scope, indeed the importance of what had just been accomplished.

Three thousands years of undisputed supremacy of Cade over Hell were ended. Farewell. Cade’s emperor came to an end.

Three millennium of hell ended. Only a legacy of fire and power remained. Because now without Cade dominating the Hell, there would be a war against his descendants.

The Sinner Hunters, the Mistress of Hellish Yard, Henry… all the kitsune.

Stefan took into consideration all these realities but for the moment, his greatest nightmare was dying.

What were the thoughts of a fallen Tyrant ?

Cade was thinking that, even in time of defeat, he was partially glad to die, because now he understood that he would never be happy, that nothing neither in the human world on in the underworld would be enough for him. There would never save the world from the ugliness of the world, because that was the Modern reality.

Ideals were defeated by ambitious.

Brilliant intellect was replaced by an ephemeral beauty.

Ugly truths were covered by well constructed lies.

He wanted to replaced cruelty with kindness, he wanted a reign of equality, safety, love… He wanted to be a God to be adored, not anymore the nightmare who punished cruel men.

Apparently that was the end of his story. At least, not everything was lost, his revenge… not, his justice would come anyway. Henry choose to live for himself, who lived for himself couldn’t live with others and there was a reason why humans lived together, because they needed each other to food, protections and survival. Henry… Henry would never be blessed by an hand, a caress, a pray. As Cade

Cade who denied and rejected his human nature because he wanted to be more, because his pride and rage blinded him at the point that he punished all the one who broke the rules.

Cade believed in the values of packs, but he also broke them first.

Packs and clans were beautiful. They demonstrated that everythingin the world was connected, that anyone in the world born with scope to realize in the life and they could be useful. They demonstrated collaboration, loyalty, peace, protection, all things Cade’d always loved about humans. Whoever broke a rule of the pack, whoever prevented someone else to realized their dreams, was nothing more than a parasite that needed to be erased.

Cade wanted that for the world, but gained loneness for himself because he was the first who showed no respect for his family.

That were the consequences.

Stefan… Stefan and Eri… could make up for his mistakes. Stefan was a broken soul with a gentle heart, Eri was a strong spirit with an untamed character. If there was a possibility for Henry to be saved, it was them.

That was Cade’s last pray, before to become nothing than dust. At the center, his last tear, the only proof of his humanity and pain.

He’d never wanted to belong to a world which didn’t allow you to be part of.

Stefan had no idea of what he’d just done. He killed a man, not his legacy, he could even erase Cade’s existence from Earth, but the fire would burn and now nothing could tame it.

Henry, instead, was going to know a pain that only Cade himself knew. The pain of soul who wanted to be loved, but at the same time, didn’t know the difference between adoration and love. A soul who wanted to share the world with someone else, a partner, not a bride.

A soul who gained what he fought for, not what he wished for.

Perdition, loss and an eternal fight against the world… not mention an never-ending burning greedy… that was Henry’s fate.

Nevertheless, Stefan surpassed any of his extractions.

What remained of the most powerful creature of the underworld was his ashes.

One single moment, one single bone, one single mistake was enough to destroy a man, a God, a ghost and his ideals. Any possibility of winning and that was Cade’s last lesson for Stefan.

Henry smiled, with sincerity and his black eyes brighten. It was the moment he was waiting for since ever. Finally Cronus was dead before to give birth to his Zeus and now Prometheus could bring humanity the fire it needed. The fire of knowledge, the fire that would bring the entire world to its need. But that was the matter for another story.

For the moment, he had only time to see Stefan grabbing Klaus and him for their arms, Shinichi opening a portal for them before the Hellfire exploded.

 

 

 

…

 

A scream. A shout. A plea. A growl. A meow.

Funny how could be different definitions for the same sound.

All Hunters heard it. All of them felt the pain of Devil as it belonged to themselves. They could feel the pain of the bone dagger penetrating their flash and the hellfire exploded inside them. They could feel their own power getting weaker and weaker, because the main source of it disappeared. All of them feared what was going to happen next.

The most of them accepted to became Hunters to gain more power, immortality, perfection and a limitless youth.

Few of them were sold, so surely they would never compete for the throne.

Kitsune… Kitsune loved playing and gambling too much to take serious responsibility over an entire underworld.

Kitsune liked playing pawns into battles, liked participating and gambling over the conflicts.

They also were goodness themselves. They were stronger than Cade since ever, but they followed him because they believed in his ideals.

Sometimes even Gods needed something to believe in.

All of them realized that their role in the first part of the prelude to the real tragedy was over, they could only chose whether to play in the second part or not.

Who would remain ? Who would leave ?

Who would keep fighting ? Who would surrender ?

Who would attempt to become the new Titan of Hell ?

Who would give up on his eternal youth, beauty and immortality ?

No one would play the same role twice, if they won and survivor this time, nothing guaranteed that they would arrive at the end of next drama.

One thing was clear. The Hellfire was exploded. Arcadius was dead. There was no meaning to fight for a dead man. Kitsune only fought for the winners, Hunters only fought because they had to.

The foxes were the first to disappear. All of them. One after one.

It was so tragic how easily they forgot the ideals they were so willing to die for few seconds ago.

It was so funny how easily loyalty could be lost, but the weight of defeat was comparable only to the weight of shame. Kitsune never lost. They couldn’t accept it. So they ran.

Hunters didn’t even had that privilege.

The burden of their fate… they wore it, it marked their skin with fire any seconds of their existence.

James mentally counted the number of people murdered by him, wondering when all of that would be officially over.

He looked at the other Hunters. People whom he could considered alley few seconds ago, now where opponents. He wasn’t safe there. No one of them was. No one stupid enough to try to take the throne of Hell.

Some of the Hunters were running toward the cars. Others, like the blonde girl, were simply running away, as far as she could from the other Hunter.

That confirmed James’ suspicious even more. They were too close to Mystic Falls. If they weren’t killed by kitsune of by other Hunters, they would be dead by Hellfire.

He ran toward the car where he knew he would find the pretty blonde vampire and when he entered he asked her to go away.

 

“Why ?” Asked Lexy obeying anyway “Why did the kitsune disappear ? Why are the others running away ?” Asked looking at one car full of Hunters disappear in the distance.

 

“Because we felt it… we felt it…The king’s dead. Cade is dead, but it isn’t over yet”

 

“What do you mean ?”

 

“Whoever killed the king, didn’t destroy Hell. So, basically, I’m still an Hunter, but my powers are weaker than before. Also, whoever killed Cade, had put in motion a mechanism of dead I don’t want to be part of it.”

 

“But Stefan and Eri…”

 

“You can’t help them. Not now. You could only chose to burn alive in the fire or to ran away with me.”

 

“But I need to do something. We could…”

 

“Hellfire is a fire so impetuous and dangerous to be able to burn something so abstract like a soul. No rain, no water, nothing in this world could stop it. I’m sorry”

 

Lexi didn’t want to give up. She hadn’t come so far only to be told to surrender and ran away. She couldn’t.

Stefan and Eri were her family. She promised to help them not matter how high the cost could be.

James, surprised not to be able to read her thoughts, was skilled at reading the body language. He knew what she was planning to do, so she used a spell to show her what exactly was happening in Mystic Falls, what exactly they were risking.

He showed her the bone dagger, Stefan, the last tear of the Devil… and the fire.

The fire that would burn them down if they didn’t get a move.

The world was cruel place and unfortunately it required, most times than not, survival instincts to be activated more than feelings and sentimental. There was no place there to think about anything but safety.

 

 

“Your friends are Sinner Hunters. The Hellfire won’t be able to kill them.” Tried to persuade her James.

 

“Maybe when Cade used to control it. Now who’s controlling the fire ? You said yourself that it could destroy everything in the way. We could escape now, but it would keep to burn everything until all the world would be covered in flames. Wo place is safe until Hellfire keeps burning things”

 

James loathed to admit, but she was right. The hellfire wouldn’t burn only Mystic Falls, if it didn’t stop, it would burn the entire world down.

Shit…

 

“Fine… I will help them. Five Hunters have more possibilities to tame the Fire. But… It requires one favor on your part.”

 

“What favor ?”

 

Lexi wanted nothing to do with a Sinner Hunter. History speaking, they brought nothing but despair and sufferance in the lives of the ones around them. Only her huge love for Eri and Stefan allowed her to put it up with all the mess their lives were. She feared that she was almost selling her soul to the Devil.

She didn’t know James, but she didn’t know his nature and she didn’t even have the upper hand, because his powers were stronger than hers.

Then she remembered that he could read her mind, so she stopped to think, it was the best thing to do.

 

“What do you want ?”

 

James bite his lower lip then he answered “I can’t read you thoughts.”

 

“What ?” Asked Lexi stunned.

 

James nodded then he continued “If I manages to save your friends and survive… I demand answers”

 

“Deal” Lexi whispered, trying not to say anything else or to show more feelings than she actually wanted.

 

She was scared, but for different reasons now. She was scared because she’d just lost the last possibility to be free of that situation. Because she knew how hard a damned soul could fight for redemption.

James would never let her go, but by the way, being the soul to save for an Hunter was far more better than being reduced into dust by Hellfire.

She made the right choice. She hoped, at least.

 

 

 

…

 

 

What had I become ?

That was the only one answer he had in his mind, thinking about all the bad things he’d done until that moment and all the possible consequences for his soul, or what it left of it.

He’d erased twenty souls at once, with his Hellfire, without any hesitations, without any scruple, plus Seline.

He did it even though it wasn’t necessary, he did it despite Henry’s orders. He did it only because he felt it right, for himself, for the situation.

He left his mother alone in Cade Mansion to let her burn and that left cold and ice inside his heart.

Funny, because he used to compared fury and hatred with fire, he wouldnever thought that hated could be cold as ice, he would never imagined that he could kill someone with kindness. After all, he put Misao, his mother and Katherine into a deep sleep, they would die without feeling pain, the warm of fire only a tender caress on their skin.

After all, no death could be sweeter when victims didn’t feel pain.

Killing with kindness was something fair enough in his logic.

Henry killed people in group.

Stefan killed his victims ripping them apart.

Eri… Eri’d never killed anyone.

He could follow anything but the logic he was beginning to learn how to use.

His logic said that his mother disappointed him. She fell for Katherine’s lies, she gave up on him instead of trusting him. She was weak, easily manipulating and didn’t love him enough to recognize him as her son. Maybe that was what she’d hoped for, that he wasn’t her son, so that she could have left him in hell. 

He wasn’t family for her. He wasn’t family family for her, or she would have hoped the door anyway only to prove him that she would remain in Hell forever only to stay by his side.

Dorian was furious, completely and utterly furious.

Well, at his age and with the current state of his abilities and skills, a poor two-wheeler unable to walk with his legs and thing with his own mind couldn’t have a proper revenge. He needed time, he needed to grow up. He needed Henry. Only Henry could understand the feeling of heartbroken that only a mother could inflict to her own children.

He would become stronger and stronger, powerful just like Henry.

He could finally thank fate because finally something had awakened him from his state of torpor.

A purpose.

A motivation.

A fate.

A doom.

A wish.

A path.

A push to learn how to use those legs that were not yet ready to support him and his pain, but they would be. He didn’t learn to walk because he had nowhere to go, nothing worth enough the fatigue. Something that could persuade him to commit the first step.

He was feeling pain, he could feel a strong sensation inside his chest, finally something inside him was screaming to come out, a new side of him that was begging to be embraced.

He didn’t have to be good or evil, he simply wanted to be good enough for himself, to prove anyone wrong, to prove her mother the terrible mistake she made today.

Any child had the right to fight for his mother. Any child needed to prove her mother how special he was.

Dorian was no exception. A mindless toy needed to have a reason to live after all.

He actually hoped that his mother survived, or he would be very fun to meet again during his adulthood.

Without any further hesitation, he grabbed his flute and held it tight, absorbing all the power of the no more hellish river, letting it entering inside his body, becoming a part of himself, of his soul, of his body.

Henry taught him that hellish river wasn’t so different from hellfire. Just like was possible for an hunter absorbing the Hellfire and made it a part of himself, so it was possible doing it with hellish river, specially now that there was no longer a specie owner to manipulate it.

If he managed to absorbed all the Hellish river inside him, it would obey only to him, as it used to do with Sybil.

When he finished, he felt exhausted. His body wasn’t used to handle such amount of power, but he would become stronger, now that he could leave Hell, he would cease to be a child and grow up as any normal person.

 

“What are you doing ?” Asked a person behind him that made him jumped.

 

He turned around to see the Hunter of Wrath studying him with a severe expression and arms crossed.

 

“I’m stealing the power of the Hellish river. Now I’m the only one who can control it and I will learn to manipulate it as Sybil.” He simply answered, alluding her question.

 

“You know what I mean. What are you doing ?”

 

“I’m gambling with fate. You can save her, you can absorb the Hellfire and save her if you want”

 

“She’s not my mother”

 

“She denied to be mine too” said Dorian “Maybe I lost my mind in that moment, but I’m hurt. I’m hurt. I’ve never felt pain before and when it happen it completely blinded me and my mind. I didn’t think it would be so hard for me to control. Maybe… All the resent I’ve been feeling all this time… exploded”

 

Eri sighed, she shouldn’t be surprised. Emotions were hard to handle normally, never mind when you felt something so strong for the first time in your life, so strong to nullify any logic, any rationality.

Dorian was like her, under certain aspects. They may were older than they looked but deep down, they still felt and behaved like children. They blindly trusted in their parents, not matter if they were or not good example to follow, they were happy about simple things and most of them were always about their parents. When they were sad, when they felt hopeless… the negativity inside them could not be contained, it simply exploded leaving collateral damages along the way.

Just like children destroyed toys, yelled at their parents they hated them, she and Dorian reacted to their pain destroying everything around them. She killed those monsters before and intentionally pushed Misao into a trap, Dorian reacted by using his Sleeping spell on his mother and let her inside Cade’s Manor to die.

 

“I want to be like you, Eri” said Dorian.

 

“What do you mean ?”

 

“You’re smart and you’re brilliant when it comes to cheat. The most incredible thing is that you don’t it with cruel intentions. You see opportunity to win, without hurting too many people and not the one who don’t deserve it, and you use it. You’re a real strategist. I’m a mere soldier compared to you. I hate it”

 

“So as first free choice, you put your mother to sleep and let her burn. The mother who cried and mourned you”

 

“You would have done the same if in that damn place had been your biological mother. The one who abandoned you”

 

Dorian knew to have hit a soft spot but he felt judged by her and he didn’t like.

Eri angered for a moment, then she smirked, she came closer to him and kicked his wheelchair with all her strength, making him falling on the ground.

 

“The delicate flower has begun to mature its thorns… Fine then. I will save your mother…” she said steeping on an hand with her foot “… But you don’t stop. You have to learn to defend yourself, learn how to fight, learn your own way to live your life and then…” with the tip of the shoe she bang to rise the index and middle finger of the hand until pushed them on the back of the hand “… Then come back and show everyone that you’re not broken. I’m sorry, but this is the only way I know to motivate you. Pain creates anger, anger creates motivation. You’re a warrior. Don’t forget it”

 

She grabbed his flute and then she disappeared, leaving Dorian there on the floor. Maybe she’d been too harsh with him, but she didn’t regret it. She hated the idea that he considered himself ‘broken’. She wanted him to fight to take back everything that was rightly him. She wanted him to become the man he could still become, not the mindless doll Cade wanted him to be. She believed in him, she believed he could do it.

If she didn’t believe in him, no one would, no one ever did.

If his mother was his path… his… motivation… then she had to fight for that motivation.

Both her and Dorian shared a life of shame, fear and guilty. They were raised by monsters who devoured other monsters, who dragged them into a path of fire and violence, but there ware two important differences.

Eri chose that path, for her father.

Dorian didn’t.

Eri knew love, her father loved her and always encouraged her to realize her ambitions.

Dorian had no one.

Henry didn’t do enough for him. Cade did nothing at all.

She could do everything, she would. That was what smart good people do.

That was what she wanted to do.

Dorian observed her, until she disappeared inside the flames of the Manor.

His fingers hurt, but it was a positive pain. He knew she didn’t hurt him to humiliate him, but because she understood the way he’ve been feeling all that time, like a dog, at the right height to be kicked and humiliated.

She understood and that was what mattered to him.

In few minutes, the flute, the last memento of Dorian Knight the Hunter, would be destroyed and his motivation, Freya Mikaleson, saved.

But before, he needed to go somewhere else. New Orleans.

Meanwhile, Eri arrived inside the Manor.

Everything around her, any furnitures, almost any centimeter of the floor and the ceiling was covered by fire. If she wasn’t a kitsune of fire, the smog would have suffocated her in mere minutes. She ran at the second floors, where she knew she would find Freya.

She forced herself not to look at no more Katherine Pierce, while what remained of her soul were devoured by fire, at the point that she looked more like a skeleton than a woman anymore.

Misao was still lying on the floor, senseless. Eri was supposed to help her first, since they were both kitsune, but if she had to be honest with herself, she couldn’t care less if the other fox lived or died.

She came closer to Freya, she kneed near her, to control if the woman was still breathing. For the moment, she was still alive but not for long if Eri didn’t bring her out of Hell.

Unfortunately, when she almost opened the portal someone tried to attack her. She kicked Freya’s body against the wall and then avoided the attack.

Misao the bitch was more okay than she originally believed since she had strength to attack her.

 

“Minikui hisoka ni, anata wa watashi o azamuku koto ga dekiru to omotta” (Ugly brat, you thought you could deceive me) screamed Misao trying to attack her again.

 

Eri used both of her arms to stop one of her punches, but she left her abdomen uncovered and Misao kicked her right there, pushing her against the floor.

The older kitusne tried to kick her again, on the face that time, but Eri used Hellfire to protect her.

Misao invoked her kyuubi, but then Eri used the spell Henry used before to lock Shinichi’s kyuubi.

 

“Kore ijō no fusei kōi. Sore ijō no human” (No more cheating. No more deception) said Eri invoking her own kyuubi “Itsi sist. Emi nebratronak nüllaan” (Stop. I’m your master now).

 

She was a kitsune of Fire, the Hunter of Wrath, she was the daughter of Stefan Salvatore. She was a human warrior who was fighting against an opponent who was both tiger and dragon.

She began to absorbing all the Hellfire inside the Manor, while she also trying to defend herself from Misao’s attacks. She couldn’t use her kyuubi, but martial arts…

No one could say that kitsune weren’t able to tear each other apart elegantly.

Their movements were fluid, elegant and precise. No hesitation, no smear, only confidence in their abilities.

 

Misao had more experience and strength on her part, but the smog of Hellfire was wearing her.

Eri was younger, physically weaker but faster and less anger.

Also, Eri’s kyuubi was still free.

Misao attacked her again and Eri knew this time that there was no way she could avoid her attack, so she wanted Misao to attack, then she surrounded the other kitsune’s back with her legs and her neck with her arms.

She concentrated her fire on her arms and hands, that became redder and searing. Misao felt the skin of her cheek getting burn and with a rapid move she hit with her forehead Eri on her nose

The younger kitsune lost her grip and Misao grabbed her by neck.

 

“Shoshinsha” (beginner) commented Misao.

 

Eri used her Kyuubi to scratch the woman on her arm. Misao lost her grip, but Eri used the power of her Kyuubi to give herself an impetus so that she could grab Misao neck with both her arms and then make her lose her balance and fall behind with her.

Eri was pretty proud of herself, it didn’t happen ofter than a younger kitsune could put KO an older ones… twice. Eri, without losing her grip around Misao’s neck,kicked her on the stomach before the other could mange to elbow her on her head.

At that point, Eri doubt she would manage to put KO Misao again, at that point she could only hope Dorian would arrive to New Orleans very soon.

 

…

 

Shinichi always felt when his twin sister lost control of herself. In worst situation, when He maintained control over himself, even in the face of death, Misao refused to go down without a fight. While he considered this aspect of her personality quite entertaining, that also caused her troubles because it made her lost her calm and that made her vulnerable.

Shinichi knew what they would be dead by the next dawn, Misao too but she refused to accept it.

Shinichi couldn’t live in a world without his twin-girlfriend. It was the worst curse someone could put on him. Neither dead could split them apart.

He loved her, a sick, twisted, unnatural loved, he was dependent, a love he could never give up on.

Insane, as Misao, cruel, as Shinichi. Unfair.

 

“Stop thinking about her” said Henry, who was next to him “You can go to her in Hell, if you want, but you won’t be able to save her anyway”

 

“I must say, you’ve done a good job. I consider humiliating for me not to have notices all your treacheries” commented Shinichi remaining calm.

 

Stefan ignored both of them. He preferred being occupied thinking about the girl who was crying next a pool of blood and bones. There were other bodies, but they were still alive. Stefan could feel their sins, even though he hated it. If he could feel their sins, it meant that he still was a Sinner Hunter.

Well, he should talk to that girl. Maybe she wouldn’t give a damn about what he had to say, but it was worthy a try.

 

“Hello…” he said forcing a gentle smile “… I’m… I’m…”

 

“I don’t care who you are. Leave me alone” said the girl without looking him.

 

“I’m Stefan Salvatore” continued Stefan torturing his hands “Sorry for your loss”

 

At that point the girl turned toward him and looked him with severity and anger burning in her green eyes.

 

“Sorry ? Are you sorry ? For what ? For Enzo’s death ? Elena’s ? For who ?” She asked with sarcasm “My friend’s been killed, her bones are shattered inside this pool but I don’t even know which ones belong to her.”

 

“I don’t understand your pain. You’re feeling something I’ve never felt because I’ve never had any friends, nor family. Devil has persecuted me for two centuries. Believe me, crying for someone is a bless. It means you have loved and been loved”

 

“Am I supposed to feel pity for you ?” Asked the girl.

 

“No, I’m simply asked you to force yourself to be cooperative. My brother is involved in this mess too and I’m not happy about this”

 

“Why ?” Asked the girl standing up “Where have you been all this time ?”

 

“He abandoned me…”

 

“Where have you been when all this mess started ?!” Asked the girl shouting.

 

“This mess started a long time ago. When I realized it, it was already too late. There are a lot of things you don’t know, I’m sorry if you and your friends got involved in this fight, but all of you, somehow were connected to Cade and were pawns in his plan”

 

Henry’s eyes widened. Stefan was telling to the girl that Cade was the real responsible of all that mess, why weren’t he blame the raven haired Hunter ?

Stefan didn’t knew the answer himself, but if he told her the entire truth now, it would only created further problems. She needed to trust him and Henry too, if they wanted her help to stop Hellfire.

She didn’t need to have other reasons to despite them, but maybe he should tell her one more thing.

 

“Cade’s dead”

 

“Good” answered the girl

 

“But he took one of your friends with him”

 

The witch closed her eyes, while other tears ran along her cheeks “Ma… Matt ?”

 

Stefan nodded without saying anything “When Cade died, he… literally exploded. All the Hellfire inside him… Your friend… nothing but your memories about him remained in this world”

 

“So he died… and suffered… and I couldn’t even… even…” she tried to calm herself, not wanting cry in front of a stranger but she was suffering too much and she needed to vent her anger in that moment “But you could. You could have prevented all of this. You could have contacted your brother, you could have…”

 

“. I sold my soul to save him, then he disappeared. I didn’t even know where he was, I didn’t contact him because I wanted to keep him out of this. Cade chose to use him against me. I thought he was simply spying over Damon, I didn’t know that Sybil was there”

 

That wasn’t entirely true, again. He knew that Sybil and Henry worked together to find and destroy the Bell, so that Cade couldn’t use his pell to bring Hell on Earth. Stefan simply chose not to be part of because the less people knew about it, the more probabilities were that Cade would never find out about them.

Henry underestimated Sybil, who still loved Cade and who had a second plan to earn Cade’s forgiveness in case of failure. Again, Bonnie didn’t need to be aware of the entire truth. There was no time and Stefan didn’t think he should be the one to give some explanations. He was the one who was responsible for what happen to Marcel and all the people in New Orleans, but here in Mystic Falls… he had nothing wrong but to arrive too late and allow Ripper to take control when he met Damon.

For the rest, he could be emotionless even without turning his humanity off. He could distance himself, avoid to feel any empathy toward the girl. He had to, because he could feel she was a strong witch, exactly what he needed now to stop Hellfire.

 

“Well, now Damon is alive, while Elena, Matt and Enzo are dead. Have a good journey and get back in Hell you belong to”

 

“You will follow me if you keep insulting me and not listen. When Cade died, all the Hellfire inside him exploded and burned everything around, but there’s a problem. Hellfire needs an owner to control it. Cade controlled it, we Hunters could controlled it but differently from Cade we couldn’t push it back in Hell.”

 

“Why ? Couldn’t be turned off ?” Asked Bonnie suddenly worried.

 

“No. The only thing could turned it off is hellish river but it could be controlled by Sybil only and she’s dead too.”

 

“I… I didn’t…”

 

Bonnie closed his eyes and passed an hand through her hair. Too many informations to elaborate for her brain. She wanted only be left alone, but apparently the war wasn’t over yet. Then he looked over the other two man.

 

“Henry wanted to kill his family. How could I trust him ?”

 

“He don’t suffer for Kol’s death, you can trust this. You can also trust that Henry wants to destroy Cade and his family. He considers all the rest collateral damages. You can trust he put his own safety before anything and he will do anything to stop Hellfire.”

 

“Why is hellfire so dangerous ?” Asked Bonnie.

 

“Hellfire is made of Cade’s emotions, anger, hatred, fury, resentment and any soul in Hell who suffers increased the its power. That’s the main reason why Cade needs to kill people. It was never a simple crusade for justice, Cade killed people to increase his power and that of hellfire, but even the devil like lying to himself”

 

“But there’s something more, right ?” said Bonnie.

 

“Hellfire could destroy anything and everyone. A fire so intense able to destroy something abstract like a soul. There’s nothing in this world that can stop it, that’s why we must push it back in Hell”

 

“How can we do it ?”

 

“Maybe introducing each other first. What’s your name ?”

 

“Bonnie Bennet…”

 

“Are you really Stefan Salvatore ?”

 

“Why don’t you believe me ?”

 

“Because I met three persons with your face before and two of them have been responsible for the death of people I care and love”

 

“All yes, all that Silas Doppelgänger shit, Cade told me. Well, I’m Stefan. I was fury with Damon and I’m willing to tell you that it was me who turned him into human, because I wanted to take him away something he cared about. His girlfriend has never passed in my mind. I wanted him to suffer, not to cause him Hell”

 

Bonnie nodded. She couldn’t say she trusted him completely, but at least he admitted that it was his fault if Damon was suddenly human, he didn’t try to hide his resentment toward his brother and surely, if he wanted to kill her and everyone else he wouldn’t have wasted time in public relation.

She looked at Henry.

He tried to kill his family and her and her friends too, but only because they were in the armory. That made her think.

 

“Where is the child ?” Asked Bonnie.

 

“He’s with my daughter. She was the one who left Damon inside the Armory. We hoped he would have been saved. We were wrong, I was wrong”

 

“How could you…”

 

“Hey !” A male voice caught their attention, Henry “If your little psychological session is over, we need to hurry up”

 

“Of course, but she needs some reassurances. You hurt her and her friends” explained Stefan.

 

“Collateral damages” shrugged Henry.

 

“You talk exactly like Klaus” commented Bonnie with disgust.

 

Henry didn’t answer anything. He knew that if he said something inopportune they would lose Bonnie’s help and in that moment, the witch was nothing but another pawn on his chess. He couldn’t let hellfire burn him down, it would be like Cade win again and that was what irritated Henry the most.

 

“I know the spell to push Hellfire back. You, Stefan, Shinichi and me together may are enough strong to do it, otherwise we will be dead in few hours”

 

“Unfortunately, there were only one thing strong enough to open a portal to bring the fire on the underworld. The bell has been destroyed by the explosion.” Said Shinichi “I can open a portal… no… we.”

 

As soon as he said those words, all the kitsune that were fighting against the Hunters appeared behind him.

 

“Together we could open a portal strong enough to push Hellfire, so you three have to push with all your force”

 

“But Stefan’s a vampire…” stated Bonnie.

 

“It doesn’t matter” explained Stefan “Hunters can manipulate Hellfire, not matter what kind of creature they were. How did you think we kill our victims ? We use hellfire to burn their body and drag their souls to Hell”

 

Bonnie gasped and looked at them with horror. Not matter how many monsters she fought and how many psychopaths she met, apparently they found a way to be creepier.

She should be scared to be surrounded by those people but in that moment Hellfire scared her more.

Henry hoped the witch would chose quickly, they were running out of time.

He came closer to Shinichi.

 

“Why aren’t you trying to kill me ?”

 

“Because I’m done, with all this mess” answered Shinichi looking him in the eyes without fear.

 

“Let me guess, you’re feeling guilty for following Sybil’s tantrums. You know that you’re partially responsible for this. Guilty could kill a kitsune, right ?”

 

Shinichi remained perfectly composed and if he was feeling irritated by that disturbing smile on Henry’s lips, he didn’t shot it. He neither denied. After all, what was the point.

All Hunters had learnt the ways to kill a kitsune since they were obliged to spend time with them. Kitsune weren’t redoes creature, but they were dangerous and their inability to resist at temptation of creating conflicts and chaos whenever they went pushed Hunters to feel the constant need of defending themselves in their presence.

 

“You’re dying. Unfortunately for you, you’ve always been the most… sentimental of the duo. Misao is crazy and madly in love with you and love. You think before to act and feel after.”

 

“I do know, thanks for your analysis. You’re showing the psychologist any broken slut has inside of her”

 

Henry smiled than said “Hoka no sekai de watashi kara shibiruo mukae nasai” (Greet Sybil from me in the other world)

 

“You’ve chosen a crooked path, Henry Knight. You blamed Cade of ruining your life but you’re not better than him, you’re worse. You live without hope, you exist with the mere purpose of watching the world on fire, you feel nothing but embitters, toward your mother, your family, Cade. This feeling is consuming you like a malady, when you realized it you’ll lose your mind”

 

“Shinici, someone as rational as you couldn’t understand. A mind frigid like yours, someone who still consider the world in black and white as Stefan cannot understand. I’m not going to justify my actions, I’m totally aware that I’m not a good person, that I abused the privilege of being a victim and turning myself into an executioner. I’m not fighting to have something back or for what used to be mine. What I want is… knowing myself maybe for the first time since ever. I want to know my limits, I want to know what I could become.”

 

“What ?”

 

“I wore so many masks through the centuries, I pretended to feel so many emotions, to have lived so many lives and to have cared about so many people and in the end my own identity is the greatest mistery I want to resolve. I’m greedy. Greedy of secrets, greedy of beautiful things and yet I despise the perfect world Cade wanted to create. Beautiful things are simply that, beautiful but meaningless, plastic and totally boring. The weed caught more attention than grass, the psychopath more than the sane, the bad more than evil, abnormality more than normality, you know why ?”

 

“No?” Answered Shinichi

 

“Because it’s the cruelty of the world that give us scopes and hopes. We chose our path based on the bad experience we’ve been through during our childhood. I’m greedy of that hopes, I want to increase the fire of range inside humans hearts. Become riches and immortal at their expense, only to see the entire world down. If I pursue my goal, then I’m a monster. If I don’t… I will be something else, but I will chose it that way. No Cade, no Sybil, not my mother”

 

Then Henry turned away. Shinichi sighed, understanding that the conversation was over.

So that was everything ?

Henry was gambling with God about his own fate.

He put his fishes on the table and Shinichi felt like one of those people who looked players playing at roulette.

Rouge ? Zero ? Noir ?

What was Henry ?

A soulless monster ?? A survivor who could still be saved ? Something else ?

What would be the compensation ?

Would Henry find a way to resist his greedy or he would never cease to answer the call of Hell ?

That guy was so unpredictable and Shinichi was sincerely afraid of him. Henry changed like day and night, probably a result of all the roles he played in his life. He didn’t limited himself to create a new face, but thousand masks, one for the day, one for the night, one for women, one for men.

But a man who didn’t have a heart what could do with thousand faces if not conquer the world ? Hoping the world to have thousands shapes, each one of them that represented one of the faces, one of the tastes.

If he could have some doubts before, now he was sure, Cade and Henry were poles apart.

Cade wanted beauty, balance, equality and give the world one common color and melody, and he expected any human to respect his role in the world.

Henry wanted difference, an indistinguishable multitude of shapes, forms and colors and a changeable melody for any human beat.

Unfortunately, Shinichi wouldn’t live long enough to see the end of the game.

Meanwhile, Bonnie chose to help Stefan and other. She was in trap, hunters and kitsune could everything they wanted of her, but the knowledge that they at least give her a sense of free will was appreciated.

 

“Do you know any formula to push Hellfire ?” Asked Bonnie.

 

“I don’t” answered Stefan.

 

“I do.” Answered Henry “So you chose to help us ?”

 

“Not you, the world. If Hellfire is so strong as you said, I must stop it. No other of my friends will die today”

 

“Good choice… specially because the hellfire will be here in ten minutes” explained a voice behind them.

 

It belonged to a young brunette with green eyes, dressed up totally in black. An hunter, but nor Henry or Stefan had ever met personally. Apparently the new of Cade’s death spread faster than they imagined and his rules already lost any importance, or the Hunter’d been wearing a mask to cover his face.

 

“What ?” Shouted Henry, Bonnie and Stefan.

 

“I was fighting with the other hunters, when we all… felt Cade dying. The others ran away, I’m here only because I made a deal with one of your old acquaintances”

 

“Acquaintance ?” Asked Henry looking at Stefan”

 

“Lexi ?” Asked Stefan.

 

“Alexia Branson.” Confirmed the hunter.

 

“Did you drag Lexi in this situation ?” Asked Henry trying to hide his worry.

 

“She’s my friend, she wanted to help me, but you’ve dragged me in this mess first” answered Stefan.

 

“Enough ! Did you listen what I said ? Hellfire will be here in…”

 

A big explosions few meters away made ground trembling and all of them fell on their knees. Hellfire still was distant enough, but they could smell the smog already and the red light of the flames.

There was no time anymore.

 

“We’re going at point zero, we will open a portal from there” said Shinichi “Be strong”

 

Then the kitsune disappeared, leaving the three hunters alone with the witch.

 

“Could we trust of them ?” Asked Bonnie.

 

“We could trust that they still want a world to live in tomorrow” answered James “I’m James, by the way”

 

“I couldn’t give a damn” said Henry grabbing his hand and Stefan’s too “Take her hand”

 

Stefan accomplished and Bonnie didn’t oppose resistance.

 

“Now… all of you repeat with me… Phasmatos incendia movet, Phasmatos incendia moventur… ego ex vos, vos ex unos… Phasmatos incendia entrare !”

 

They all repeated his words, over and over again, holding each other’s hands.

They didn’t get separated even when another explosion, this time much closer to them, made them almost lose their balance, pushed them to ran away out of fear.

They didn’t get separated even when they felt the warm of hellfire on their face.

 

…

 

Dorian arrived inside the wood of New Orleans, where he knew he would find the former hideout of Jun, the place where Eri and Stefan had hidden the spheres of Shinichi and Misao. He hoped not to find any werewolves around there, he didn’t want to waste more time in fighting little fish when the only target he could think about was the closest thing to a Goddess.

Fortunately, he arrived inside and he didn’t even have to waste too much time looking for the spheres. Eri and Stefan simply put them inside a box on the floor, in front of a pile of accumulated junk. It was hard to believe that it had once been the hiding place of a kitsune.

Emotionless outside, an hurricane of emotions inside, Dorian destroyed any spheres he found inside that box, one after one, even without knowing which sphere belong to whom.

When remained one sphere inside the box, he grabbed it inside his hand and looked at it.

What a pathetic being dependent on an object to survive.

 

“Fall and shatter… Misao…”

 

When the sphere fell on the ground, Dorian admired his own reflect in all that fragments.

He used to feel exactly like that broken sphere, fragile, transparent, fundamental for someone else’s life but not for his own.

Now it was over. As soon as he got out of New Orleans, he would begin to walk a new path. He would live for himself, because he was important, because he deserved a possibility to live his life, to be brilliant, to win, to fail, to cry, to be happy.

He would become strong and only at that point, he would come back there and earn his mother’s apologies.

His mother would love a completely different Dorian, a Dorian worthy of something, a Dorian capable of understanding, of thinking, of taking care of himself.

That was his first decision.

No regrets.

No lies.

No denials.

He would never forget the past, but it couldn’t manipulate it anymore.

He would never deny the truth about himself, Arianna, his mother, Henry, Cade.

They were part of him, they would be part of his soul forever.

Henry and Cade, they had always aimed at objectives that he he never understood, and the path they’d chosen was made of all their decisions.

Dorian would do the same.

Like Stefan, who never allowed cupidity to take away his soul, Dorian would preserve his own. Stefan wasn’t cruel, even though he was more willing to make sacrifice when the situation needed. Dorian believed that sacrifices were important when the goal is great. No burden couldn’t be handle if the motivation is great enough.

Dorian sacrificed his mother, to gain a new opportunity to live at his own and he killed Misao to survive another day.

Power… Immortality… Youth… not all of those stuff mattered if the world burned in few hours.

 

“I’m not cruel, but I do have a path. I won’t be broken anymore”

 

…

 

Eri sighed when she felt that Misao was dead. Her arms hurt and she wouldn’t have been able to stop the other kitsune for much longer.

She also knew what was going to happen. The Hellfire was going to be pushed back in Hell, but if it didn’t find something or someone able to control and tame it, it would be futile.

Hellfire was a beast that needed an new owner.

All that hatred, used to punish all those people inside Hell, could still be converted in something useful. In power.

In power she could manipulate.

 

…

 

“Phasmatos incendia… Henry, it’s not working…” said Stefan.

 

“We’re not strong… We couldn’t…” said Bonnie who was beginning to bleed from her nose.

 

“It’s not… James… Stefan… we can be helped… the witch too” said Henry who was beginning to showing tiredness too.

 

James and Stefan understood what Henry was trying to say, they tried to invoke all the other Hunters, begging them to help, to come there, begging for one last favor.

Bonnie instead was going to ask what Henry meant when she felt someone taking her free hand.

 

“Granny…” she whispered beginning to cry.

 

Her granny… how could it be ?

Did she hear her prayers ?

’Thank you…’ Bonnie mimicked those words to her Grannies that nodded, revealing another person at her side. Beatrix.

Bonnie smiled, feeling happy and comforted after all that Hell. She wasn’t alone, her grannie, Beatrix and… She felt a presence behind her and she saw all Bennet witches, ready to fight for her, with her.

No one stated that Hell had to been walked through alone.

Stefan and James instead felt them, their presence.

The presence of the ghost.

The presence of the children of Devil.

The borns of an Hellish Era.

The monsters under the bed.

The nightmares of any man.

The lost souls. The lonely hearts. The living death. The children of fire.

They came back. Without their masks. Without any bad intention. With the only mere purpose of redeem themselves and a world they all still believed in.

Red color belonged to dawn.

The dawn of a new story, a new drama, a new adventure.

They could all see, through their fire, their new lives and they wanted to with for them.

 

“Phasmatos incendia movet !”

 

The dawn was rising, so were they.

 

...

 

Eri knew it was coming, she could see the Hellfire from the distance, she knew that she didn’t have too much time and surely there was no time left to ran away.

Eri didn’t want to ran away.

She was born in fire.

She was made of fire.

She was an huntress and her element couldn’t frighten her.

 

“Itsi sist… Eksleebire. Ye non hun wesrat horri. Emi non khur uu reshtoeth muirepmi terprai Yesun Khriiston”

 

Hellfire hit her hard like a cannonball. Hard. Strong. Overwhelming. Warm. Violent.

It almost made her lose her balance, close her eyes, and at some point she felt obliged to invoke her Kyuubi, but her determination… her determination made her stay strong and still till the end.

That was for her father. For her. She was absorbing all the anger and hatred and sins that made that fire so strong, so that no one else would be able to use it against other people again. If Henry or someone else intended to purse Cade’s madness by using hellfire to destroy the world, then they were totally wrong.

Kitsune weren’t bad, they weren’t good either, but being neutral made them lazy and drifters.

Eri wanted to be something, she wanted to take a decision.

And she did it.

 


	50. Purpose

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Man, so long as he remains free, has no more constant and agonizing anxiety than find as quickly as possible someone to worship. 
> 
> -Fyodor Dostoevsky

FINAL CHAPTER

 

_In nomine Patris…_

 

_“Phasmatos incendia movet… ego ex vos, vos es unos”_

 

_How could something so laic sound like a prayer ?_

_Stefan, Henry, James and all the hunters were pronouncing those words like a pray, like they were in Church. They were holding on their fate for God, they were fighting for a new day. The dawn was rising, they were rising with it._

_All hoping for God to save them. All hoping to be enough for a new life._

_Hoping that they could still be enough._

_Hoping to have a place in a world devoted by their anger and selfishness. Because they’ve acted selfishness._

_Because they put the world behind their greed of power, youth and immortality._

_Because they let there pride leading their judgment and not ask for salvation when they were in time._

_Because their envy toward the ones who had more than them pushed them to made that damn deal with Cade._

_Because their fear for love pushed them in the arms of lust._

_Because they allowed their resentment toward the injustices of the world to turn into wrath to use against other people._

_Because they had lost control over their gluttony, because they justified themselves by considering the world only a giant and immutable food chain, where they were the predators with the right of devouring their victims’ soul._

_Because, when the world needed mercy, the sloth stopped them._

_Because the only thing they could do now was asking for forgiveness._

 

_Et filis…_

 

_“Phasmatos incendia entrate !”_

 

_Stefan wanted to be enough to have the possibility to love Klaus day after day, falling in love with him deeper and deeper any day. He wanted to go in New Orleans, where Shinichi took Klaus before to come here with them, so he could finally be with him. He wanted Klaus to learn him how to live, how to laugh. He wanted discover the world, he wanted to see the light at the end of the tunnel._

_Henry instead wanted to find Dorian, take him away from this shit, teach him how to walk, teach him how defend himself from cruelty of world. He wanted to be for Dorian what Cade’d never been for him. A father figure, maybe not the ideal one, but the one good enough that could be supportive of him._

_James hoped to find the answers he was looking for, the ones that would help him in finding the right path for salvation._

_All the hunters were fighting, maybe for the first time in a long time, for something they sincerely cared about._

_Power was the first step for grandeur, but that grandeur had to belong to you or it would be a prison. Hunters didn’t exist to grant their own wishes but Cade’s._

_They have been living, breathing, acting only in his name. No face, no name, no identity, they were limbs of the Tyrant of world._

_Bonnie turned behind and saw all the Bennet witches and smiled, she turned at her left and saw her Grannie, Beatrix, whom Cade tried to kill and kidnapped her fiancé, Ethan Maxwell._

_She was fighting for them too, any of them, she was fighting for the future of Bennet witches. For her own future, because from now on, she would change her life too. She would live for herself, she would pursue her own dreams._

 

_Et spiritus Santis_

 

_Because when you risked to lose everything you could only hope in a miracle. People ignored their need to beg for God until they understood how important Him could be for them._

_Who would ever believed that the cruelest murderers in the world had rosary around their wrists or inside their pockets._

_They knew they hurt, they kill, they destroy, they knew that if Hellfire was strong it was because they’ve been ignited it all those centuries with any person they killed._

_Person after person. Soul after soul. Victim after victim._

_That was the result of their actions, the hellfire._

_That was the result of their sins._

_That was the prove of their blame and shame._

_But there was still a dawn… there was still hope… past couldn’t punish them anymore._

 

_“PHASMATOS INCENDIA MOVET !!”_

 

_Amen…_

 

_…_

 

_8 YEARS LATER…_

 

Stefan woke up, disturbed by daylight that interrupted his dream. It was always the same.

The principle of his new life, with the dawn of a new day.

Stefan would never forget that day. Would never forget Henry and Bonnie’ hands that were holding tight his owns.

Never the warm of the hellfire few centimeters away from him.

Never forget the tears shredded by hunters, the happiness inside their eyes, the solace on Bonnie’s face because she managed to protect her friends and the world.

What happen after, well, the other hunters made a new vow, to always support each other.

Even though it was the first time they saw each other’s friends, their minds have been connecting since any of them made the deal with Cade, they knew each other’s thought, they understood each other’s pain, they lived the same Hell.

About Klaus…

 

“Oh love, you woke up. Pity. Few minutes more and I would finish”said a voice with a strong British accent.

 

Stefan was going to answer when he felt a pair of lips on his own, then an hand caressed his messy hair too. Stefan surrounded the neck of his lover with both his arms, he slimly opened his lips allowing Klaus’ tongue to love his.

Stefan adored those moment, when it was only he and Klaus in the morning in the blond’s bed.

Stefan had difficult to sleep with someone else in the room with him during the first months, because he was used to feel threatened even by his own shadow and the presence of someone forced him to always be on the alert. Klaus had been patient with him and his nightmares, his social anxiety and also his incapability of acting like a normal social being.

It had been hard for Stefan to learn how to live within people and not far from them.

He still had all the hunter powers, even the silver bracelet but he could no longer invoke or control hellfire, nor he could or want to kill people. Stefan suspected that it was because Hell still existed, so the main source of power of hunters hadn’t been destroyed… yet. Well, he wasn’t an hunter anymore, he didn’t have to kill in the name of no one and he belonged to himself, so that was a little consolation.

He could love Klaus everyday of his life without the fear that someone could ruin everything.

Klaus bite him on the neck and Stefan moaned when he heard blonde’s fangs penetrating his skin. It was as erotic as feeling Klaus inside him completely, only more special.

No one but him could survive Klaus’ bite, no one but him could survive his hybrid venom and surely his blood was the only one Klaus drank for pleasure and not to feed himself or to kill.

 

“Anata wa watashi o tokubetsuna kibun ni sa semasu… Anata ga watashi to nani o shite iru ka ni kakawarazu” (You make me feel so special… regardless of what you do with me) whispered Stefan caressing Klaus’ neck.

 

“Watashi wa anata o yuiitsu no hito ni shite hoshīdesu… Anata wa kone yōna kibun ni narimasu…” (I want to be the only one… who makes you feel like this ) said Klaus kissing him again.

 

Stefan smiled in the kiss. He was the one who taught Klaus to speak Japanese. The blonde was determinate to understand what he and Eri talked about when they spoke in Japanese. Klaus did that his inability of understanding made him feel excluded. Stefan was happy that Klaus was interested at learning a language that meant so much for him.

For Eri was another proof that Klaus was truly committed in his relationship with her otōsan. Eri tended to be wiser than her own otōsan most of the times.

Eri…

 

…

 

_“Eri ? Eri ?? WHERE ARE YOU ?” screamed Stefan running inside the relics of Cade Manor._

 

_He hoped not to be arrived too late, although he could feel despair growing inside his chest more at any second. He swore to himself that it would be the last time he abandoned her. They had to fight together, they should have stayed together, he shouldn’t have left her out of his sight._

_Never, never again._

_He didn’t even try to stop the tears, he couldn’t care less if he was looking weak. He was desperate, that was his living Hell. Living in fear of not seeing his daughter ever again._

 

_“ERIII !!” He screamed with desperation, running upstairs._

 

_It was a good thing he was a vampire of he would have been dead for all the smog inside the Manor. The smell was insufferable and made difficult for anyone to see through it. He couldn’t give up, he had to find his daughter, he needed to hold her in his arms._

_He wouldlook in any centimeters of the Manor._

 

_“EriiiI !!”_

 

_“Otōsan !!”_

 

_His heart jumped when he head his daughter’s voice calling for him._

 

_“Eri ? Eri !!”_

 

_He ran through the smog, until he saw his daughter next to Freya’s body. The woman wasn’t dead, Stefan could hear her heart listening._

 

_“How are you ?” He asked getting on his knee._

 

_“Exhausted” answered Eri “I absorbed all the Hellfire, I’ve no energies left due to this. I can’t open… a portal…”_

 

_“I will. I will do everything.” Said him caressing her hair “I will bring you out of Hell as soon as possible”_

 

_Eri nodded. Then Stefan surrounded her neck with one arm, then put an hand on Freya’s shoulder and then opened the portal. Stefan brought them inside their apartment in New Orleans. Maybe he should have taken Freya home, but Stefan wasn’t ready to talk to Klaus now, he didn’t feel lucid._

_He’d just found his Eri, after he feared to have lost her. He brought Freya inside his bedroom, then Eri used a spell to help her to breath. The blond witch had breathed too much smog._

 

_“Watashi wa anata ga dorehodo hokori ni omette iru no ka wakarimasen” (You’ve no idea how proud I am of you) said Stefan covering Freya with a blanket._

 

_Eri didn’t answer, she simply ran and hugged him with her tiny arms and began to cry._

_Stefan grabbed her and took her in the living room, where they would be alone, without risking to wake Freya up._

_Eri was so mature than her peers, but in the end she was still a child who needed someone to love and look after her._

_Stefan felt that she’d felt scared, when she saw Hellfire in front of her and he felt responsible for putting such amount of stress and fear on her._

_He promised that it would be last time, because he needed her, he needed her to be happy, to lower more like the child she really was than an adult. From now on, he promised to herself, that she would go to school, have friends, birthday parties and all those mundane staff that any father gave to his princess. He would protect her better, not matter under what kind of circumstances, or if Eri was right or wrong. Even if the entire world was against her and hated her, he would never stop to love her be by her side. It was them against the universe._

 

_“Watashi wa anata o ushinatta to omotta. Watashi wa shine yō ni kanji” (I thought I lost you. I felt like dying ) said Stefan holding her tight._

 

_Eri’s eyes widened. Her otōsan was saying exactly what she wanted to hear._

_That he was proud of her, that he feared for her life and that she needed her, because she needed someone to belong to, she wanted a family._

_She wanted someone to love her above anything else._

_She wanted a family. Her family. Her otōsan. When she felt hellfire entering inside her… there was a moment when she believed she couldn’t do it, she was too weak survive._

_Her biological parents abandoned her because she was too weak, because she didn’t have enough powers to survive inside the pack, in their opinion. She was not worthy enough._

_She needed someone who believed she was worthy enough._

 

_“Otōsan wa… I did it… I have my fifth tail… I did it…” she confessed through her tears, sobbing._

 

_“Although I would preferred you to gain your fifth tail under different circumstances… I’m happy for you. I know how important it was for you”_

 

_“I know you do. It appeared as soon as I absorbed all hellfire. The first person I wanted to know about it was you. I’m who I am only thanks to you”_

 

_“No. If we pursued something… we did it together you and I. I tremble if I only think about what I could have become if I hadn’t found you in that wood. I’m happy to have you with me”_

 

_Eri smiled then she put her head on Stefan’s chest and closed her eyes. There… there… She wanted to be there forever, in her father’s arms. The only place where she felt in paradise, safe, protected, wanted._

_What she was thinking about when she survived Hellfire. She couldn’t’ care less about her fifth tail, she survived and now she wanted to stay with her father forever._

_Stefan smiled. Eri was the light of his soul. The reason why he didn’t let darkness dragged him down in Hell. The reason why he got over his fear for social interactions, the reason for he imposed himself to be strong enough to walk in the light again._

_Eri was his salvation, his path, his peace and he would never let her go._

 

_…_

 

Stefan smiled thinking about that moment. They’ve just survived Hell and everything they wanted was being together.

Stefan bite his lip not to burst in tears again. That day was a good day and he wanted his mood to be good.

Then he remembered something.

 

“What did I interrupt ?” Asked Stefan interrupting the kiss.

 

“Mm ?”

 

“You said you would have finished in few minutes something I interrupted”

 

“I was drawing you…” answered Klaus grabbing the sketchbook he was drawing on and showed it to Stefan.

 

Klaus’ artistic talent would never cease to surprise Stefan. Klaus was drawing Stefan while he was sleeping, the blond captured perfectly the peaceful expression on his face, the curve of his lips, his eyes, his features. The brunette almost envied it. Klaus had the opportunity to develop this gift, Stefan instead had no particular talent.

That made him depressed.

Stefan knew so many ways to kill someone or torture them. Cade used to remember him that killing was an art itself. No one had the same talent when it came to murder someone, some only did it with aggressively and savagery, others were able to kill someone with more creativity.

 

“Stop doing it” said Klaus interrupting Stefan’s thought.

 

“What ?”

 

“Thinking about what you could do before. You’re not only good at killing people. You’re not only a killing machine. You simply have to learn yourself better” said Klaus caressing his cheek.

 

“It’s hard, learning more about himself. I’ve learnt so many bad things about me in this last century that… I’m afraid to learn that there’s nothing pleasurable about me, anything else I’m able to do but killing and surviving”

 

“I don’t think is true. You allowed me to read some of your journals, when it was too hard for you telling me your experience aloud. Maybe writing could be for you what drawing is for me. I mean, you’re good at writing and you also wrote poems and…”

 

“Poems? Damon…” Stefan gritted between his teeth.

 

His relationship with his older brother was… complicated. Even though Stefan sold his soul to save Damon, his older brother preferred to cling on the bad things happened.

Elena’s death. His human condition.

Well, they talked with each other, even though most of the time Damon called him when he was in troubles and Alaric refused to help him due to his children.

Stefan didn’t care about it. He didn’t care if Damon was furious with him, if Stefan had to pay his debts, or taking care of him after a quarrel.

Damon was depressed and Stefan could only hope that one day he would find something to fight for and be fine. There were other times when Damon forced himself to be nice with him, when he called and asked about Eri, or when he sent presents to him or when he simply invited Stefan to spend some time together. Sometimes this appointments ended good other times bad.

Damon didn’t even try to hide his disgust about his relationship with Klaus. Stefan knew that it wasn’t all about that Damon didn’t have a great consideration about Klaus but also because Damon, or a part of him considered that Stefan was happy at his expense.

As Stefan let Elena die to be with Klaus. Something absolutely not true but Damon wanted to interpret the reality that way and Stefan preferred not to respond in order not to ruin what had left of their relationship.

Klaus didn’t help either. The blond learnt to read Stefan’s facial expression like an open book and he quickly figured it out when Stefan was said because of something Damon had done or said and then… well, troubles were unavoidable.

 

“Why did he give them to you ?” Asked Stefan.

 

“Actually… I stole them last time I went right to Mystic Falls to kick his ass”

 

“You shouldn’t fight with Damon.” Said Stefan “It’s not worthy. He’s a mess and I don’t want our relationship to go down with him.”

 

“Almost funny said by someone who was willing to sell their soul for him”

 

“After what I’ve been through, no one could blame me if I want to be selfish for once and be happy with the person who brought light in my life. I was broken and you repaired me. I’m not cruel only because he’s suffering and I want to focus on my happiness instead”

 

Klaus kissed Stefan on his cheek and stood up. Families were complicated, Klaus and Stefan learnt that lesson in the hardest way and both of them had problems with their brothers.

Stefan with Damon. Klaus with Henry… and Freya, who was trying to move on after what happen with Dorian.

Dorian, was one of the few secrets remained between Stefan and Klaus.

When Freya asked about Dorian, Stefan told her that he died in Hell, that hellfire was too faster for him and burned him alive.

Of course that wasn’t the truth, but if no one else knew it, then that was the reality, the reality Freya had to believe in.

The reality Henry and Dorian wanted her to believe in.

Because in the end Stefan was still that soldier, that player, that lier, who lived of tricked and puzzles. It was truth, nasty habits died hard and if Klaus found out that Stefan lied to him and to his sister… Well, Stefan didn’t want to think about it.

He was happy and he wanted bad thoughts not to poison his mind or his mood.

 

“What are you planning to do today ?” Asked Stefan.

 

“I was planning to spend my whole day with you. We haven’t spent much time together recently”

 

That was also true.

Marcel Gerard, Klaus’ adoptive son, had disappeared for ninemonths and Rebekah begged Klaus to help for finding him. At the beginning Elijah guessed that Marcel simply left the city for a while, but nor Klaus neither Rebekah could believe that Marcel could leave so easily the city he fought so hard to rule.

Marcel didn’t even leave any notes or something to his vampires about where he would go, what he was planning to do. He simply disappeared and no one had any idea of where he was.

Stefan had suspicious he didn’t dare to voice. If he did, they would become truth and he didn’t want it. He promised to himself that he would do anything to stay out of troubles and he intended to keep that promise.

Suspicious had to remain in the deep of his mind.

Guilty in the deep of his heart.

He wasn’t even sure whether he was right or not.

 

“I agree, but I want to go to Church first. You don’t have to accompany me, I know you don’t want” Stefan winked, standing up.

 

“I love you, Stefan, with all my heart, but last time I accompanied you I fell asleep and our daughters drew funny things on my face and sent them to Bekah.”

 

“Not to mention the priest’s face when he noticed you, it was exhilarating” said Stefan laughing.

 

“Shut up. We should call our pests”

 

Stefan nodded.

Hope and Eri weren’t in New Orleans with them. They were in Paris, with Lexi and James and they would come back the next week. Rebekah was away from the city, she was still searching for Marcel but this time Elijah accepted to accompany her.

Freya instead chose to take a vacation somewhere, it happened that sometime she needed space from the rest of her family. Everyone knew it was only a lie to mourn her son away from them, all of them knew it and everything Stefan but his tongue until it bleed not to reveal what he knew.

Stefan could perfectly understand that. He was surprised to have been able to resist the temptation not go in England to take Eri back under his supervision.

It was normal for a parent to worry, but in the end Stefan didn’t want to clip Eri’s wings more than he’d already done. It was fair that she began to spend time without to him, to know the world only for the pleasure of knowing it, not to follow her father in his murderous activities.

Stefan didn’t want Eri to develop codependency with him, as Cade. He wanted her to know that he would always be there for her, but that she was finally ready to discover the world alone and realize her own dreams.

Stefan grabbed his cell on the nightstand and composed Eri’s number.

 

_“Hello otōsan. How are you ?”_ Asked Eri with cheerful voice.

 

“Desperate, my little fox isn’t here with me” answered Stefan pretending to be on the verge of tears.

 

_“Really ? Can my old man resist until next week ? I made a bet with auntie Lexi”_

 

“The stakes ?” Asked Stefan.

 

_“If I win, she will finally accept uncle James’ marriage proposal. If she wins, she will find a boyfriend for me, now that you aren’t here”_ answered Eri giggling.

 

“Then you must to win. I didn’t kill Cade only to be sent in prison for murder”

 

That made Klaus laughing, while he was talking to the phone with Hope. Stefan showed him the middle finger, since Klaus was even more jealous and protective than him when it came with his daughter.

After gaining her fifth tail, Eri started to growing up like a normal child. She looked more like a teenager now and she was beautiful. Unfortunately, Stefan wasn’t the only one to think it.

Eri was tall, with an athletic body due to all her training and… God saved Stefan… gifted.

One day Stefan and Eri where alone in a bar and Stefan was tormented by the rude and vulgar comments of two nasty boys on his daughter’s breast.

It’s useless saying that Stefan found a way to punish them after, but the annoyance didn’t diminish with years.At least Eri was a master in martial art and more than capable of taking care of herself.

 

“ _Boys are more afraid of me than attracted. You can trust me.”_

 

“I do trust you. I don’t trust others. Can you pass me your lovely auntie ?”

 

_“Don’t reprove her. We’ll go to Church today, what about you ?”_

 

“I will go to Church too.”

 

_“Glad to hear that. Auntie Lexi’s here. By by”_

 

“Bye”

 

He only had to wait few seconds before to hear another voice “Hello grumpy boy. I’m taking good care of your little fox, don’t worry about anything”

 

“Really ? Eri told me your intentions. If you even dare to introduce her boys, I swear to God, I will kill you”

 

“Oh come on, show a little protectiveness over me instead. You didn’t move a finger when James began to… court me”

 

‘Right…’ Stefan thought rolling his eyes.

Well, it wasn’t him who introduced them in the first place, it wasn’t completely his fault, but of circumstances.

 

…

 

_Stefan put a blanket on Eri, who was peacefully sleeping on the couch. He kissed her on the cheek, he sent a message to Klaus to warn him that his sister was there in his apartment in New Orleans, then disappeared. He needed to go back in Mystic Falls to see if Lexi was safe or not. He didn’t trust any Hunter near her. When he arrived in Mystic Falls, he was in front of what remained of the Armory. Bonnie Bennet and James were still there, the other Hunters, included Henry missed._

 

_“Oh finally !” Exclaimed James “Where have you been ? We need you to carrie all these peopleaway from here.”_

 

_“Sorry, my daughter was in Hell, I needed to know she was safe”_

 

_“The little ginger girl ?” Asked James “Lexi has photos of you in her car. Why did you let her go in Hell ?”_

 

_“She was there to retrieve Freya Mikaelson.” Answered Stefan avoiding to look both Bonnie and James in the eyes._

 

_He didn’t want to say more. James probably already knew everything, because he was an hunter and he could easily read Stefan’s mind. Bonnie, on the other hand, the less she knew, the better it was. Bonnie suffered enough because of hunters, she didn’t need to carrie another burden on her shoulders. She was also a though girl, she would get over all this pain with time. James, well, why the hell was he there ?_

 

_“Why did you stay ?” Asked Stefan caring Elijah near to Rebekah and Caroline._

 

_“I need answers. Your friend… there’s something strange about her. Somethingthat’s confusing me”_

 

_Stefan turned toward James and for a moment he felt scared. What did James mean ? What was strange in Lexi ? Was she ill ? Did something happen to her ? Did someone hurt her and Stefan had no idea about ? Now the brunette hunter was panicking again. How could it be possible that he was so inept when it came to protect the people he loved ?_

_James, who noticed the turmoil inside Stefan’s eyes, decided to clarify his previous statement._

 

_“She’s okay, I don’t know how I am supposed to feel about her.”_

 

_“I don’t get it” said Stefan creating a portal for New Orleans._

 

_James bite his lower lip then he asked politely “Can we talk about it later ? Calmly ? We have work to do and I don’t want distractions while we discuss about what’s happening to me”_

 

_Stefan liked considering himself as a smart person, indeed he easily figured it out others’ intentions (when they didn’t directly regard him). Stefan’s eyes widened when he realized that James was looking at him with the same confusion Stefan had before to know Klaus was his soul to save. It was something that left anyone stunned, no one of them were prepared to react when they med their soul to save, specially because all of them knew that the probability of meeting it were pretty low. When Stefan himself found his soul to save in Klaus, he couldn’t believe it, he didn’t even recognize signs, because he had no idea of how recognizing a soul to save. Cade’d never given any particular clues to find the soul to save, why would he after all ?_

_It was also in that moment that Stefan realized that the silver bracelet around his wrist hadn’t disappeared, neither his hunter powers. Apparently killing Cade wasn’t enough to brake his spell, apparently their source of power was connected to Hell. Until Hell existed and it had a King, Cade’s legacy would survive._

_That made their victory bittersweet. Stefan hoped that, with Cade dead, his powers would disappear and he would be a normal vampire, ready to start a new life. Apparently the hellish mark would follow him, but at least now he wasn’t alone anymore._

_He looked at James and Stefan easily imagined how the brunet had to feel alone. The desperation and sadness in his eyes was evident and Stefan didn’t want to be the only one to be happy that day, so he nodded and accepted to meet up with him and Lexi later._

_When they managed to carrie all the people in the Salvatore Mansion, including Bonnie, Stefan proposed James to bring Lexi and to meet up together at the Town House Cafe._

_When the moment arrived, Stefan understood to have made the right choice, despite Lexi’s insecurities. He could understand her too. Lexi knew what it meant to be the soul to save of an Hunter, it meant that Lexi was guilty of a sin that could be erased only by an Hunter, that there was something only James could help her to be forgiven. It also meant being with a mass murder, being with someone who accepted to be a slave of another crazy psychopath that wanted to bring the Hell on Earth. It meant sacrifices, pain but also… happiness. Stefan was happy, when he was with Klaus._

_Ten minutes, ten embarrassing and suffocating minutes passed before Stefan took courage to speak first._

 

_“How are you ?” Asked Stefan politely to Lexi._

 

_“Seriously ? You killed Cade and it’s you to ask this question ?” Asked Lexi furrowing her brow._

 

_“You haven’t spoken for all the ten minutes we were here” said James looking at her._

 

_“It’s because I don’t know how to start the discussion.” Answered Lexi torturing her hands._

 

_“Well, you could have said it before, because I do.” retorted James “Why are you immune to my powers ? Verbis Diablo protects people from Cade and his hunters, but I can usually feel when this kind of magic is involved. I didn’t feel Verbis Diablo, I still don’t and nevertheless your thoughts remain a mystery for me”_

 

_“It’s because she’s your soul to save” said Stefan drinking his coffee._

 

_“What ?” Asked James stunned._

 

_“I didn’t know how it wrks either when Imet mine. Apparently our souls to save are immune to our powers. We can’t read their minds, or use compulsion on them or any kind of power. If we want to save them, we have to do it using only our own intelligent and strength. It’s a connection made of trust, partnership, understanding and forgiveness. No shortcuts, or tricks or lies. If you want to save the soul to save, you have to be sincere with them”_

 

_James stared at Stefan, then at Lexi, then Stefan, in the end he looked at Lexi. It was obvious that he was trying to metabolize all the informations. Stefan could almost hear all the gears in his head moving and working on new items, but it wasn’t what worried him the most. He looked at Lexi, he could see the fear and the worry on her face. He wished he could do something to make her feel better, but nothing came into his mind, so he simply grabbed her hand, to make her understand that he was full supportive of whatever decisions she would make._

_Weirdly, or not, it was that gesture that caught James’ attention and made him wish to pull that damn hand away from his soul to save. Possessiveness wasn’t something he expected to feel toward someone._

 

_“So… to be saved and save her… Am I supposed to be romantically involved with her ?” He asked hesitantly._

 

_“In your dreams”_

 

_“That’s not necessary”_

 

_Lexi and Stefan answered at the same time, both of them with red cheeks. Stefan was blushing, Lexi was seething. She felt like she was in one of those pathetic TV Programs where people accepted to court and be courted by strangers to find true love. Lexi had no need of a relationship, she didn’t want a man in her life, neither being romantically involved with a stranger.She understood that James didn’t chose her as soul to save on purpose, but a childish part of her still blamed him for having put her in that mess._

_James took a moment to look her better. His soul to save was beautiful and brave, she demonstrated when she chose to fight for her friends. Surely she wasn’t a damsel in distress and he was sure he would never get bored with her. He wanted to know her better, but he shouldn’t go on strong. It was obvious she didn’t want anything to do with him, but he hoped he could changer her mind. He couldn’t lose his soul to save, the only chance he had to be free of that mess and being happy, for once in his own existence._

 

_“Look, I know you don’t trust me and you don’t want to do anything with me, but… You’re my only possibility of freedom and happiness and…”_

 

 

_“Why did you make a deal with Cade ?” Asked Lexi interrupting James._

 

_“Lexi…” Stefan tried to stop her._

 

_“What ? I have the right to know if he made the deal for noble intentions like you or if he’s simply another Henry Knight, whom plays the victim only to become the next executioner”_

 

_“Yet, this should be… private” insisted Stefan._

 

_“You would know anyway, sooner or later, I don’t care. If I have to leave the town with him, I want the answer now”_

 

_Stefan closed his eyes, wishing for the ground to absorb him completely. He felt an intruder and also in the middle between two grenades ready to explode. James smirked. His soul to save was hot headed and maybe too much stubborn for her own good, but it wasn’t a problem for him. Years spent being a Sinner Hunter taught him how to control his own tempter, to be more understanding and less stubborn and be less rigid regarding his opinion._

 

_“I was born in 1550 into a coven of witches in Europe. You know that during that period witch purge and unfortunately all my family was accused of witchcraft. We got imprisoned. I forgot how many days I’d spent in dungeons, assisting while my mother, my sister and her two children were tortured. I was the only male of my family and people believed that I was a victim of their power too. There was this misogynist opinion, in my village, that only women were supposed to be blamed for men’ misfortune. My sentence, was imprisonment. Theirs… the stake”_

 

_“You should have been more careful” said Stefan._

 

_“We were, but that wasn’t the point. Only two members of my coven survived. I was one of them. The other, was a traitor who sold our lives to get rid of the entire coven and begin a new life in America. When I found out I was so devastated. I got depressed and tried to kill myself. I let myself starving to death, but then Sybil found me and proposed me an alternative”_

 

_“Let alone if Sybil missed an opportunity” gritted Stefan._

 

_Lexi said nothing. She didn’t expect any of this and for a moment she was tempted to take James’ hand to give him comfort, as Stefan was doing with her, but then she did nothing. She wanted him to finish his story, before to do anything with him._

 

_“She proposed me immortality, beauty, youth and revenge, in change of my loyalty toward Cade. I accepted without any hesitation. I looked for the traitor and let him burn in Hellfire. I’m honest, I truly believed in Cade’s ideals at the begin. Any cruel person deserves to suffer and to be killed in order to protect the good people, I was willing to kill anyone in his name, anyone but…”_

 

_“But then you regretted it” concluded Lexi._

 

_“When I found out about his intention of bringing Hell on Earth I was disgusted, so I’ve been looking for a way out… until now. You can save me” said James looking at Lexi intensely._

 

_Lexi didn’t know what to do, which surprised her a lot. Since she’d become a vampire, after her brother’s dead, she had clear ideas about anything._

_She knew she wanted to be a vegetarian vampire._

_She knew she wanted to be a good person._

_She knew she wanted to be considered as supportive figure for younger vampires and girls above all._

_She knew she wanted to be Stefan’s best friend._

_She knew she wanted to have faith in God._

_She knew she wanted to be an independent woman._

_She knew she wanted a long list of things that didn’t include James._

_She was truly tempted to say ‘no’ to him, stand up and leave Mystic Falls alone but then she looked at Stefan and she remembered how much her friend had suffered when he was still looking for his soul to save. She remembered his depression, his loneliness, the need to have someone with him, the desire of loving and being loved._

_She recognized the hope in Stefan’s eyes when he was still unsure whether Klaus was or not his soul to save and realized it would be heartless from her refusing James._

 

_“Fine, I will give a try. You can… spend time with me, but don’t try harsh moves on me or I swear, I will brake any bones inside your body and…”_

 

_Lexi forgot anything she was going to save when she saw the brightest and most stunning smile appearing on James’ face. It was enchanting to look at it._

_Stefan smiled, reassured that his best friend didn’t treat him to murder him and happy that she decided to help James. Probably she wouldn’t fall in love with him, but Stefan was glad that she wouldn’t be alone anymore._

_Lexi had been alone for too much time too._

_She was an amazing woman, easily to love and admire for her intelligence, kindness and maturity. She always knew the best thing to say or do in any kind of situation, she knew how to fix problems that no one else couldn’t and she had a lot of friends, humans, vampires and witches who loved her and would do anything for her. But when it came with boyfriend, Lexi demonstrated all her insecurities. Stefan suspected that she believed not to deserve happiness because of her brother’s death, but maybe James would bring in her life that light that missed._

 

_…_

 

Time proved Stefan right.

Hunter and murders a part, James was a good guy, traditionalist, respectful and cunning. He learnt pretty quickly how to approach Lexi without resulting invading, he learnt the things she liked, the things she considered annoying. James fell for Lexi first and he didn’t try to hide his feelings for her and Lexi was secretly flattered by his attentions. After the second year together, Lexi realized to have feelings for James as well and was also the first to kiss him. After that they became a couple. Since then, James became more and more important in their lives and became an official member of their messy family. Eri herself began to call him ‘uncle’, more willing than when she had to call Damon that way. Stefan considered James a reference point and someone who could understand him better than anyone. James was always willing to listen to him when Stefan needed to speak about his experience as Hunter, or his insecurities and fears.

James had been trying to persuade Lexi to marry him for one year and half, but Lexi didn’t tell him yes because she feared it was too soon. Stefan had been trying to convince Lexi to accept his proposal.

 

“You should thank me for that. He makes you happy, I know he does”

 

_‘“Well, a bet is a bet. So…”_

 

“So… you know already that Eri will cheat and win and inevitably you will…”

 

_“James knows it too. He’s happy about it.”_

 

_“And you ?”_

 

_“I’ve never believed I could do something so normal as a wedding since I became a vampire, now I’m planning to marry the man I love in few months and I’m afraid”_

 

“Don’t be. When I started my relationship with Klaus, I was afraid of everything I say or do, I was afraid to lose him, to be inadequate. If I’d let fear to taker over me, I’d been lost and miserable. So don’t be afraid, trust me, he’s more afraid than you”

 

“ _Thanks. Don’t worry about Hope and Eri, James is jealous about them too and terrifies any guy who approaches them.”_

 

“Told you is the right one”

 

_“Dumb. I gotta go. Have a good day”_

 

“You too”

 

Then Stefan closed the call.

 

“So… She finally accepts to marry the James Bond ?”

 

“Don’t call him like that and yes. No one wins a bet against Eri and Lexi never takes her word back.” Answered Stefan kissing Klaus “I’m going to take a shower… want to join me ?”

 

Klaus didn’t even answer him, that Stefan felt his body pressed against Klaus’ one and felt water on his face. Klaus was kissing his, no, he was devouring his mouth, possessing and marking his mouth, his tongue, his teeth. Stefan surrounded his neck with one arm and with the other hand he caressed Klaus’ hair.

Klaus’ hands squeezed, touched and marked any centimeters of his body and Stefan allowed him to do it, Klaus was allowed to do anything with his body. The blond could bite, scratch, love, mark, caress, pull his hair until it hurt, Stefan loved all of them. He loved when Klaus’ fangs penetrating his chest at the height of the heart, which made him gasped and moaned, loud. He loved when Klaus took control by raising his arms and keeping them still over his head, with one hand, while the other began to touch the muscles of the abdomen. Klaus ceased to drink his blood, but he licked the last shred of blood, then he began to lick the left nipple. Initially he simply licked it with his tongue, then he began to suck it and bite.

 

“Oh… Oh my…”

 

All that pleasure would make Stefan lose his mind, the brunette was sure about it. Stefan used to ponder about what exactly made sex so exactly for people, he used to suppose that regarding something only physical, apparently he was wrong and he was glad about it. Stefan wasn’t having sex, he was making love with the first and only man he’d ever loved, Klaus. His other half, his soul to save. The owner of his heart.

Klaus, on the other hand, loved pushing Stefan at the limit, making him lose his mind. Having the hunter at his mercy.

Stefan was so hot when he moaned and gasped or whispered his name.

He also loved marking any inch of Stefan’s body, even though they disappeared quickly, at least for a moment all the world knew who Stefan truly belonged to.

Klaus lowered his hand and began to touch Stefan’s balls with his fingers.

 

“Why… are… you’re teasing me…” moaned Stefan.

 

“Because if you want more, you have to earn it” answered Klaus looking him in the eyes and beginning to lick his neck, sucking the lock of his ear, while his hand continued to touch Stefan.

 

“Please… touch… ah… touch… me…” begged Stefan blushing.

 

It was embarrassing, in his opinion. Not matter how many times Stefan had sex with Klaus, he was still embarrassed when Klaus wanted to play with him, when the blond asked him to beg for him and to say… those kind of things.

Klaus grabbed his length with his hand, but he didn’t move the hand, he simply kept it there.

 

“You know what to do… if you want me to continue…” said Klaus licking the other’s lips “Will you do it ?”

 

Stefan nodded, then he pushed Klaus against the wall and got on his knees. Shyness or not, Stefan wanted to please Klaus anyway possible.

Klaus moaned when he felt the velvet heat of his lover’s tongue tease him and his lovely lips that began to kiss his length. Then Stefan sucked one of Klaus’ balls, making Klaus losing control as the blond started to moan.

The brunette began to engulf the penis bit by bit, until the entire length lay in his throat, while his hands were touching Klaus’ balls.

Stefan would be the end of him, that was what Klaus was thinking about him, because he was the only one who could make him lose mind and control.

Klaus loved those moment alone with Stefan. He had been falling in love with the brunette more and more after any moment together.

At the beginning, Klaus played hard to get it. The blond was known to hold grudges for long period of time, so in his mind, Stefan had to earn his forgiveness and the brunette didn’t pull back. Stefan never pulled back, he always found thousand way to grant any Klaus’ wishes, to prove him how important Klaus was for him.

Klaus was surprised of Stefan’s tenacity, that the brunet was so determinate to be with him, even after Cade’s dead, although Klaus made his life so complicated. Indeed, meanwhile Klaus gave up on all his plans for global domination, his enemies were determinate to kill him and his family and erase any race of his existence from the face of the Earth. Not even that, had been enough to push Stefan away. Apparently, for someone who used to have the Devil as boss, no else could scare them anymore. Honestly, Klaus preferred to believe that, more for.a matter of bravely, Stefan remained at his side because he loved him.

Klaus realized how much he loved Stefan when he noticed that he would never ask him to use his hunter powers against his enemies. His former self would never hesitate to take advantage of someone’s love for their special abilities, but he knew that Stefan wasn’t proud of his abilities, probably due to his shame. That helped Klaus to resolve his problems by himself, without involving other people, not even his siblings, not after Kol’s death.

Klaus forcefully grabbed Stefan’s hair, a gesture to make the other understand he wanted him to stop. Stefan looked up at him with worried, fearing he did something wrong.

 

“I don’t want cum… yet. Stand up” clarified Klaus.

 

Stefan obeyed, then Klaus turned him and pushed him against the wall. The blond kissed Stefan neck and bite his earlobe. Using two fingers, he traced a line along Stefan’s back, until they arrived to his butt. Klaus used those two fingers to prepare Stefan and stimulate him. He knew when it succeeded when Stefan screamed for pleasure and instinctive his body looked for a deeper contact.

 

“Do you want me ?” He asked.

 

Stefan nodded. His dick was hard, painfully hard and he wanted Klaus inside him as soon as possible. The blond smiled, then he entered inside Stefan, who bite the back of his hand, trying to stop his moans. Klaus started to bump into him, while one of his hand grabbed Stefan’s length. Stefan’s body became a live-wire of pleasure, when Klaus’ hand picked up the same space of his dick. The brunette didn’t even realized that, for the lost of control, he was biting his hand with his fangs too and that veins appeared on his face. Klaus was very careful at hitting Stefan’s prostate at each go, at the beginning slow, but then Klaus couldn’t resist anymore. His desire for Stefan’s was so strong that he found himself fucking his amazing lover faster and harder. He also grabbed Stefan’s wrist and took it away from his mouth.

 

“Klaus…” Stefan moaned, hoping that the veins could hide the reed of his cheek.

 

Klaus considered him so much adorable. He bite Stefan on his shoulder again and the taste of the hunter’s blood was enough to push him over the edge.

 

“Cum for me Stefan…” demanded Klaus sending Stefan over the edge with one last push.

 

Stefan cum, then put his forehead against the wall. He was sure that all this passion would make him lose all his rationality.

Stefan didn’t mind it though, he’d been rational far too long about any single aspect of his life. It was the moment to use less his mind and more his mind. It was the moment for him to taste any sweet taste life could offer to him, it was the moment for him to try any experience world had to offer, it was time for him to learn how live without fear.

 

“I love you, you know ?” He whispered to Klaus kissing him on the cheek.

 

“I love you too” answered Klaus hugging him “Well… you need to hurry up if you don’t want to be late to mass”

 

“I agree, but moments like this are worthy any second. I would propose a second round… If I didn’t have to go to Church”

 

“Now you’re cruel. If you keep saying these things, I will fuck you so hard you won’t be able to walk straight”

 

Stefan laughed, then he looked at Klaus.

Green in the blue. Blue in the green.

The vampire and the hybrid.

The hunter of Gluttony and the Fallen King of vampires.

The writer and the artist.

The Ripper of Monterey and the Legend.

In that moment they couldn’t be more similar and simply. Two men who loved each other with all their hearts, two bodies and soul who completed each others. Two broken children, two determinate strong men, two monsters, two innocents, two victims. Two survivors who could finally learn to live together.

 

…

 

Surprisingly Stefan didn’t arrive too much late to mass, but fashionable late for his standards. Because of this, he took place at the last files, where no one else was there. Anyway, few minutes later, someone sat next to him. Stefan smirked, he knew who was.

 

“Good morning, Steffy. I see with pleasure that, although all the sinful luxurious things you do with my brother in bed, you still need to come in the house of God”

 

Stefan looked his interlocutor and smiled.

Henry Knight was as beautiful as he remembered. Neat hair, even if the black turf had grown and now it covered his right black eye. An expensive perfume. Black, elegant and designer clothes. Perfectly groomed hands. The expression of a child about to make a mischief.

 

“Long time no see, I thought you were angry with me”

 

“I was never angry with you. I simply needed time to reflect over our last meeting” said Henry with seriousness.

 

“I’m happy to see you. How long will you stay here ?”

 

“Until the end of the mass. I came here only to spend some time with you, but I have to hurry up. I’m pretty busy today”

 

“You’ve been busy these last year, ah ?”

 

Henry winked, then he grabbed his wrist. Henry was so serious that morning, his posture was rigid, his lips tighten and his black eyes were looking at Stefan as they were trying to communicate with his soul, not with his body.

Stefan was afraid of that look and of all the intentions hidden being it. There was hell inside that look.

Why of all people he could be friend of he chose the one with a dark secret in the heart ?

Stefan knew, that Henry hadn’t stopped to pursue whatever plan he had in mind, all those years. He knew that somewhere in the world the helping didn’t stop, that whenever madness and conflict grew, Henry pulled the strings behind the scenes.

He knew that somewhere there was a new fire ready to burn everything around it.

Stefan was aware that Henry brought malady, madness, chaos whenever he went.

Stefan knew so many things about him, all of them were daggers ready to cut the string that connected him and Klaus.

 

“We could have do great things together you and I…” said Henry.

 

Stefan’s eyes widened, while his mind came back to that moment…

 

…

 

_Stefan payed the bill at the bar. Lexi and James left few minutes ago, Stefan instead chose to remain longer, because he needed some time alone with his mind._

_He was on the point to get out from the bar when he heard Henry’s voice in his head._

_‘Meet me at the Wickery Bridge, please’._

_Stefan was tired and the last thing he wanted was to fight with Henry, but on the other hand he was conscious that it may could be the last time he saw the raven hair hunter. He didn’t want interrupt his… friendship with Henry abruptly. He wanted a proper closure, talk with him, know if the other was okay or not._

_So he arrived at the Wickery Bridge, where he saw Henry, whom with his mind was looking somewhere Stefan couldn’t see._

 

_“Hi” he said greeting the other._

 

_“It was the first time that someone simple as dawn could fascinate me” said Henry as he was continuing a conversation he and Stefan had started before “It caught my attention because it was different. Dawn used to be insignificant for me. A lie made of future promises. A light that announces nothing but a new day of sufferance. This one…”_

 

_“Why did you want to talk me ?” Asked Stefan interrupting the other’s monologue._

 

_“Because today we all start a new life. Everything we knew it will change and will change ourselves more than anything else. I want to know if this is the last time out paths crossed”_

 

_“Why do you care ? You haven’t cared so much about my opinion until now. Indeed, you took advantage of my desire to escape Hell to use me in your schemes.”_

 

_“I would have never used you until now if I didn’t know you could survive. I admit that I wanted simply used you at the begin. Then everything I wanted for myself I wanted for you too” said Henry looking at Stefan with sincerity._

 

_Stefan regretted to be looking Henry in the eyes, because he could read the truth and in that moment it hurt._

_It would have been easier if Henry simply used him until the end. It would have been easier because now Stefan could have had a good read to turn his back around and never come back. Never think about Henry again. About his wellbeing. His happiness. His existence. Everything._

_It hurt to know that the only person Stefan considered his friend had been using him all that time._

_It hurt to know that Henry could so cruel and selfish._

_It hurt to know that Stefan knew what Henry meant about loving your enemy. It was only loving your enemy that you could destroy him. Henry destroyed Cade when he’d been brave enough to love him and with few single words was able to destroy him in the end, even though Stefan was the one to kill him._

_Stefan realized he could destroy Henry with few words in that moment, because Henry was vulnerable in front of his eyes. Stefan could say he hated him, could say he didn’t want to see the other anymore._

_Stefan could almost feel, inside the palm of his hand, Henry’s beating heart and it hurt because Stefan didn’t want the power of destroying him._

_It hurt so much that Stefan had tears in his eyes._

_The anger inside him hurt so much. Time grew inside him a sentiment so strong and violent that hurt._

_Was Henry hurt as well ?_

_Could he understand his pain ?_

_Could Henry understand the gravity of all his mistakes ?_

_Henry put an hand of his cheek._

 

_“We could do great things together you and I, if you only give me one possibility to illustrate you the big picture”_

 

_“The big picture ?” Asked Stefan with sarcasm “Is there a place for me ? As partner or pawn ?”_

 

_“As everything you want. I know you better than anyone. I know that you’re convinced that Klaus could give you everything you want, love, home, safety, kindness, a family. But at some point you will want more, so will my brother”_

 

_“Ah, now it’s your brother ? Please, Henry, you tried to kill all of them and something makes me believe that you will try again”_

 

_“Of course I will. I’m a dog without its leash now. I can do whatever fuck I want” said Henry._

 

_“No you can’t. I don’t want you to kill Klaus and you must be delusional if you think that I will ever accept to help you in this shit !!” Shouted Stefan angry._

 

_“For now. When you realize how challenging a relationship with my brother is, you will reflect about all the things I told you today.”_

 

_“So, the reason why you asked me to meet you it’s to tell me that you intend to kill my boyfriend ?”_

 

_“It’s to offer you a possibility to come with me. We’re not enemies, we’re brothers and we could be partners now” said Henry caressing Stefan’s cheek “I saw it the first moment we met, we both want power”_

 

_“I don’t” denied Stefan._

 

_“You do. Or otherwise you would beg me to take away your hunter powers”_

 

_Stefan’s eyes widened and Henry smirked._

_The brunette hunter should predicted. If Hell still existed, if his hunter powers didn’t disappear, it was because there was a new king. Hell didn’t need Hellfire to exist. Hellfire was simply a weapon in the hand of Devil and the main source of hunters’ power._

_Henry took control of Hell now. Typical._

_There weren’t words to describe how disappointed Stefan was in that moment. After all the things he’d sacrificed to destroy Hell and Cade, now Stefan found himself at the starting point._

_If there could be any slight chance he would accept Henry’s proposal, now everything Stefan wanted to say to Henry is to go to Hell._

_Stefan was sincere with himself, he enjoyed power. Who didn’t?_

_Who wouldn’t enjoy being faster than any human ? Or stronger ? Or having specially abilities that made him different from any other vampires ?_

_Yes, he was all of those things. Yes, he enjoyed being all of those thing, but whoever knew the pain he’d been through to get all of them would refrain to only think about getting them._

_He wasn’t a pawn. He didn’t fight to salvation only to fall in temptation again. He was better than this, Eri and Klaus deserved better than this._

_Power was a drug he would never depend on again._

_How could Henry not be tired of having his hands dirty of blood ? How could Henry not to be enough to live in he darkness ?_

 

 

_“Leave me alone, Henry.” He said with coldness “If you really care for me as you say, then leave me alone. My answer is no, because I want to be free and happy. Because my daughter deserved better from me. What about Dorian ?”_

 

_“Dorian ? Dorian will be my priority, of course. I can’t hold grudge against my mother for her bad parenting if I can’t be a good model for Dorian. I will teach him how be strong, a warrior, whatever he needs to live in this cruel world. I won’t oblige him to walk on my same path. If he doesn’t believe in my opinion, he will only be an obstacle along the way.”_

 

_Stefan closed his eyes. Of course Henry wouldn’ttry to impose his ideas on Dorian as Cade used to do with everyone. Henry was a good manipulator, he would find a way to push Dorian at thinking like him without doing or saying anything. Dorian would simply believe to act and think his own way, he would become an heartless ruthless murderer with a twisted vision of what was right or wrong._

_Stefan felt so sad for him._

 

_“I will say everything to Freya”_

 

_“Of course you will. Remember to mention that her lovely son tried to kill her. I would never want my sister’s heart to break if she finds out… from someone else”_

 

_“Quit it. You’re sadistic, this is cruel, too cruel even for you. You hold grudges against your former family, I got this, but Dorian…”_

 

_“Dorian nothing. I told you. I’ve been him, remember it. I’ve been sold, manipulated, lied everything. I won’t put him through the same Hell, but he must learn how to protect himself. He must learn that world is a cruel place and that with a gentle heart he won’t go anywhere.”_

 

_“He already knows this, God, he grew up in hell, he knows already how cruel and twisted the world could be. You should teach him how to live”_

 

_“What ?”_

 

_“Yes. You should teach him that world could be a wonderful place as well, where he could be happy, have someone to take care of him and have care of, where he could have a family, friends. He deserves to know that he still has a place in this world”_

 

_Henry didn’t replay. He looked at the river, as he believed he could find there the answers he needed._

_His eyes were empty, his lips slightly open and his fingers began to tap the surface of the bridge._

_Stefan considered that silent the quite before the storm and he was right. Because suddenly Henry bursted to laugh._

 

_“There may not be hope for me… but you definitively will be welcomed in heaven if you die”_

 

_“What’s so funny in this ?” Asked Stefan._

 

_“It’s funny because we’ve been all protagonists of this story, but you and I won’t have the same ending. You can be the tragic hero and I the tragic villain, but…”_

 

_Stefan’s eyes widened and he noticed in that moment that Henry was crying, something he didn’t believe he could be capable of. For a moment, all the anger he felt before disappeared._

_Henry was one of the cruelest people Stefan’d ever met in his life and nevertheless he couldn’t stop himself from loving him, like he couldn’t stop loving Damon. Cade always told him that he loved rarely but when he did he gave everything too easily to the ones he loved. That Stefan was incapable of being selfish, that once someone entered inside his heart he would always forgive his sins and ignored his faults._

_Why couldn’t Stefan stop to love the ones who hurt him ?_

_Cade taught him to accept the darkest side of himself and tried to make him hate the ones of the other people._

_How could Stefan accept his dark side and desperate the others for this ?_

 

_“You will never be the villain of my story, Henry. Not matter if the entire world hates you, I will love you forever… But I don’t like you and I don’t agree with you”_

 

_“I will be the villain for everyone else, then. You are worthy a try after all.”_

 

_Henry anticipated that outcome after all._

_Now everything that he knew was that he would better get out of that place that had nothing more for him. There was nothing in that place made of dust for him. There was nothing worthy of fighting for._

_He had nothing and he wanted everything for himself only._

_After all even that moment had been planned, like a tv shows, and he was the director. Any moment, any word, any dialogue, any move, any dead, anything, anything happened until that moment made him a young god or simply a great strategist. It was the moment to write a new chapter of his story._

_A story made of money, power and greedy._

_A story made of revenge and chaos and punishment._

_Henry made a vow to himself after all, that he would destroy the legacy of Esther Mikaelson and to do so he had to become the strongest creature in the world._

_The first part was completed, not the second part. No more tears, no more words, no more hesitations, after all Henry could be very pragmatic when he wanted to be._

 

_“Be happy with my brother then” he said hugging Stefan “You have a second chance so live the life you think to deserve. Tell Klaus all the truth or not, I approve anything you choose to do.”_

 

_“I think I can… tell him…” said Stefan uncertain._

 

_“Secrets are the worst enemy for a relationship, remember” said Henry “Tell them anything you want”_

 

_Stefan closed his eyes._

_He should tell Klaus he’d always known that Henry was an Hunter._

_He should tell him that Henry was ready to destroy everything he knew._

_He probably should tell that Dorian was alive, that attempted to kill Freya._

_Whenever he went all those secrets would follow him._

_Anything he’d fought for would be destroyed._

_Anything. He should tell him… everything._

_Or should he simply let him figure it out alone ? Without any clue ? Would be another place for him ?_

_Be selfish, that was what Stefan had to repeat himself. Henry was the one to blame so he should tell Klaus everything._

_If he was so determinate to hurt the ones who loved him, but he would never used Stefan to hurt Klaus. The brunette hunter would never permit it._

_Klaus was everything he wanted._

 

_“You’re cruel Henry Knight, but it’s okay. Sooner or later you will realize the gravity of the situation. For now, goodbye”_

 

_“Goodbye” whispered Henry._

 

_Stefan turned his back and disappeared. Henry smiled._

_The smile of a young God who’d just made a second bet, this time with the second part of himself._

_Stefan was the new positive polar to his negative one._

_The greedy and the gluttony._

_The knight and the ripper._

_Two hunters._

_Two sons._

_Two broken children._

_Two faces of the same coin._

_Henry couldn’t wait to see him again. Thing would be very entertaining._

 

_…_

 

“Told you I’m not interesting” said Stefan.

 

“I know. It was a simply thought. I missed you being my partner in crime”

 

“I don’t miss action at all instead. I’m happy, Henry. So much” said Stefan “Are you happy ?”

 

Henry took his hand, but he didn’t answer.

Was he happy ? Sometimes. It lasted a blink, but there were moments when he was happy.

When he was with Dorian, for example.

Now with Stefan, for example.

When he obtained what he wanted, for example.

When he assisted something interesting.

Few things managed to surprise him and he was always happy when it happened. When he met someone so unpredictable that even his powers were confused of the outcome.

In those eight years few things surprised him, but even after so long Stefan remained an unsolvable puzzle for him.

Maybe it was because Henry refused to even try to understand things from Stefan’s point of view. Well, an healthy relationship wasn’t made only of agreement.

Happiness, he would be happy when he ruled the world. When everything desirable would belong to him and him alone. When he found his salvation or his doom, whichever he would welcomed it with joy.

For the moment he would try to rule the world and if there was someone brave enough to try to stop him, then Henry would become him too. Chess needed two players, the world two contenders and a coin to faces to be completed.

In the end it would never stop, not matter how hard they tried. In the end Hell would reclaim its children, because their life wasn’t a straight line, but a never ending cycle that couldn’t stop to come back to its principle.

Always the same story. Two sisters, or two brothers. One represented the good in the evil, the other the evil in the good. Light and darkness. Wrong or right. They fought each other. Repulsed each other. Attempted to destroy each other.

But how could you destroy something you needed of to exist ?

Easy, you could only devour it and made it a part of you.

Henry would become a partof Stefan, if Stefan didn’t want to be part of him or his plan.

Henry would give Stefan the last thing he needed to reach the apex of his happiness… humanity.

Humanity… that was Henry’s plan. Being the new Prometheus of human kind.

 

…

 

_6 MONTHS AGO_

 

_11:05_

 

_He was five minutes late but he didn’t care. Important people had to be waited, not the contrary, also he needed more time than he predicted to order all the datas. He was surprised that Interpol accepted so quickly his request for a meeting, but maybe all the proves he gave to them two weeks ago had been enough convincing. Henry hoped so._

_After the murders committed by the underworld creatures amounted at more than a million cases unsolved that Interpol had been struggling to solve since ever._

 

_“Are you sure they will accept your proposal ?” Asked an atone voice behind him._

 

_Dorian Knight was studying the main entrance to the headquarters with his blue eyes, as he was looking for any escape out of it. Henry pinched his right cheek then he blinked to him._

 

_“I always find my way to make people do what I want. Don’t forget it. Rather, tell me if the others are ready”_

 

_“They are. They will carry subject number 0 and subject number 30 here in ten minutes, as you ordered. Everything is ready for the next part of your plan”_

 

_“Are they sleeping ?”_

 

_“They are. I will wake them up when you tell me to. Not sooner, not later”_

 

_Henry smirked then he kissed Dorian forehead._

_In those years Dorian grew up like any normal human, now he actually looked like twenty years old, even though his rigid posture, his height and the cold and composed expression on his face made him looked even older._

_He also dressed up more like an adult than a boy of his age, more responsible than any of those brats who waisted their existence in parties, drugs and all those banalities Henry despised with all his heart._

_Dorian had changed so much since the day ofCade’s death, he became more ruthless, confident in his opinions, in his thoughts, actions and cold. Brave, also._

_Dorian learnt to live each day, he became something new each day and he kept surprising Henry more after any minute. Dorian was no afraid of showing his chagrin, he had no hesitation to tell him when he didn’t agree with him, or when he wanted to act on his own._

_Henry didn’t fear when Dorian chose to act independently, even without asking for his opinions. He knew better than try to clip his wings, and as long as Dorian didn’t do something stupid to put them in danger, Henry would be supportive of him._

 

_“Excellent job, my dear.” He complimented “But before to enter inside, I must know if you’re really convinced about it. Once we enter inside, no one of us can come back”_

 

_“I told you, I’m convinced.” Answered Dorian “This world is terribly wrong, our family is responsible for this, so they have to pay. All of them have to die”_

 

_Dorian was confident when he spoke that words, because he believed in them._

_Vampires, werewolves, witches… they’d been killing humans of any age and gender only to satisfy their cupidity. They didn’t kill only to survive, to satisfy their hunger, they all ended up killing only for the taste of killing. They thought to be superior but in the end their were beasts. Only selfish monstrous beasts._

_Henry wanted to kill all of them to rule the world, to become the strongest creature in the world and also to erase any sing of Esther’s legacy. He wanted to kill any vampire and werewolves so that there would never be hybrids or any sort of those oddities of nature. Or at least that was what the raven hair man wanted to believe._

_Dorian knew it better. After living an entire existence killing anyone without making any difference, Henry felt that there was no other place to belong, to call home, so he had to create one himself. Create a place where people would consider him a savior, a God._

_In the end, Henry was utterly alone, that was his curse and Dorian’s too._

_That was the Mikaelson curse, killing other to live themselves, in doing it they were doom to an eternal loneliness, because a beast couldn’t find a home in the violence and violence prevented anyone to come back home._

_That was why Dorian was still here…_

 

_“We are witches, uncle Henry. We promised to maintain the balance on Earth, we failed human kind once, we cannot do it again.”_

 

_“Good, then we have no more time to waste”_

 

_That they another chapter for the underworld creatures would begin._

_That was what Henry kept in his mind when, in front of all the major members of Interpol began his speech, showing them what underworld creatures had been trying to keep secret since the the origins of magic._

 

_“Greeting everybody. I, Edward Prince, am here in front all of you to make you witness of the greatest plague that had been poisoning our world for more than two thousands year…” he clicked something on the computer in front of him, then some pictures appeared behind him, on the large projector “… I can easily understand that most of you are skeptical about the theories and materials I sent you time ago, but I thank you anyway for your time”_

 

_He showed to them pictures that portrayed faces of victims killed by vampires or werewolves during the last years, murders unresolved where victims had been killed brutally._

_Women, men, children, families, friends…_

 

_“According to the datas I personally collected, all those murders are committed by someone… or something with the typical traits of the predators, but these pictures also showed signs and marks typical of an animal than a human.”_

 

_A man he couldn’t clearly see interrupted him “Mr Knight, if you requested this meeting only to waste our time with unprovable theories about…”_

 

_“About what ? Vampires ? Werewolves ?”Asked Henry with sarcasm “Of course. I’ve no shame to admit that my theories sound more like a joke than anything else, but I have concrete proves.”_

 

_Henry clicked another button on the computer and a video started on the projector._

_It wasn’t a video at random, that video was showing three vampires attacking two girls in a dark alley. At the end of it, Henry showed the second one, that showed the transformation of a boy into a wolf and then the same wolf killed a group of children lost in the wood._

_The last one, showed a vampire with dark skin, strong, tall and with an aggressive and dangerous posture while he was biting a girl on the neck, then snapped her neck._

_After the last video, only silence remained in the room. Why weren’t people laughing about the three video ? Why not one of them were hazarding a dick joke about them ?_

_Simple, because all those video portrayed the death of two of the victims founded by police, whose culprits hadn’t been found yet. The last video instead showed the ‘death’ of a girl, Georgina Leonheart, disappeared nine months ago, whose body hadn’t been found and whom no one had heard nothing about._

_Henry internally smiled. Those victims weren’t chosen at random, all of those video were shot in New Orleans…_

 

_“Any question ?” Asked Henry trying not to smile._

 

_One woman dared to speak first “How did you get hold of these video, Mr Prince ?”_

 

_“Risking my life, my dear. In New Orleans have been happening so many strange events since its foundation, that it caught my attention and there I personally assisted at the transformation of a man into a wolf. At the beginning I think it was everything set up but then the wolf tried to kill me…”_

 

_He began to raise the sleeve of his jacket, revealing the sign of a bite on his forearm, but it was not a human bite._

 

_“Do you want to know what the beast in the video made to Georgina Leonheart ? He turned her into a vampire, Into a monster like him, he plagued her, like a parasite. Here the proof…”_

 

_Henry pushed another bottom and another video started. In that video the face of Georgina Leonheart could be seen clearly. Henry made it on purpose, but no one had to know about it. The video showed how the girl attacked and killed a woman on her doorstep, but when she turned around to go away, the child of the woman appeared._

_Georgina got on her knees and whispered something to the child to make him come back home, then ran away, like wind._

_A loud exclamationof surprise fulfilled the room._

 

_“As you can see, Georgina is alive, more than alive, but something is changed in her, also, she’s still in New Orleans, but why didn’t she come back home ? Why didn’t she call her family ? It’s because she’s been turned into an heartless monster who kills people to become stronger. This happened to other people in New Orleans and…”_

 

_“Mr Prince, how did you get hold of this videos ?”_

 

_“How ? Capturing the virus of all this illness, the King of New Orleans who has been spreading chaos and violence in that city all this time. I had suspect about this person, but I didn’t have the proofs. Once I captured him, I found in his home videos, photos, documentations of all the murderers committed for him by his kind. When I went to the police station… no one of the policemen knew about those murderers, nothing about it had ever been documented.”_

 

_“What about the child in the video ? How couldn’t he say anything about the murderer ? Why didn’t he denounce Miss Leonheart ?” Asked another woman._

 

_“Simply, he declared not to remember anything. We saw Georgina Leonheart running faster than the wind and she whispered something to the child, who didn’t even attempt to scream after that, so my guess is that vampires have more abilities than we could imagine”_

 

_“With all due respect, Mr Prince, but until I don’t see a vampire with my own eyes, I will consider all these proofs nothing but a bunch of speculations that…”_

 

_Henry looked at Dorian and made him a sign. Dorian nodded then the door opened and four men entered, dragging with them another one, with dark skin, tall, muscled, who was dressed up entirely in white, with the wrists tied and a strange device that covered his face from the nose down._

_The four men dragged him along the stairs, at the center of the room, then they went away. Henry looked at them appreciatively. All the people inside the room looked the scene intrigued and curious, part of them were worried, but no one voiced theiropinions or worries._

 

_“Ladies and gentlemen… This… creature…” said Henry putting an hand on theman’s shoulder “… Is Marcel Gerard. A popular personality in New Orleans but I doubt that any of you know the reason. Well, Marcel…” said Henry taking the device out of Marcel’s mouth “Do we want to tell them the reason ? Tell them how many people you killed, how many people disappeared to satisfy your greedy or how many of them have been turned into monsters just like you”_

 

_“Go to Hell… this time stay there !!” Shouted Marcel._

 

_“You shouldn’t have underestimated human kind Marcel.”Henry made sign to Dorian to take the place behind the monitor._

 

_Dorian nodded. He clicked some bottom on the computer than, on the larger projector appeared the video of Georgina’s transformation. Dorian highlighted the face of her aggressor._

 

_“Are you the man in that video, aren’t you ?” Asked Henry to Marcel._

 

_Marcel didn’t answer buthis face was recognizable on the screen._

 

_“This is a giant bullshit and this is torture !” Screamed the same man of before coming closer to them “You had put on a good charade, Mr Prince, but this is simply ridiculous and…”_

 

_No one of them would ever know what their colleague was going to say, because Marcel attacked him, biting him on the neck and began to drink his blood. The dumb probably was trying to drink blood to get strong and escape, but in the end,Henry proved what he wanted to prove._

_Vampires existed, they were dangerous and they had to be killed, erased, to protect human kind._

_‘Maybe I don’t even need to introduce them subject number 30’_

 

_…_

 

Interpol accepted to collaborate with him after that episode. For them he was Edward Prince.

Of course Henry couldn’t avoid to deceive them too.

In the end they met subject 30, Interpol had been easier to convince rather than Yamamoto industry in Japan. Yamamoto was a pharmaceutical industry, pretty famous in Japan. Henry had a meeting two years ago. He demonstrated them the proofs of the existence of vampires and werewolves and proved them how their blood could be advantageous to elaborate more vaccines and cures, and for their profits too.

They were more skeptical about it, so Henry had to use subject 29, a vampire boy, to prove them that Marcel’s blood could kill his similar but if properly used could be used to create new treatments and also… new weapons, if in the future Yamamoto decided to invest in that field too.

Henry hoped they would.

Of course he used an alias with them too. Kol Mikaelson. In the end, his dead brother made him a great favor by diving. Using his name Henry had access to all his properties and bank accounts.

Interpol and Yamamoto Industry.

Justice and Power.

Integrity and Money.

Army and Medicine.

Who would win ? Who would conquer the underworld ? Who would help him to rule the world ?

Very soon, agents of Interpol and Yamamoto would arrive in New Orleans and then… Oh, Henry was going to have fun.

Chess needed two players at the opposite side of the chessboard.

That was his third bet.

Because once you became a player you would always be a a player, not matter who you were playing with.Henry loved playing too much. He loved being surprised by his opponents, hr loved using them to win.

Games… he lived for them.

And humans would live for him. After all, they needed someone to bow to, to worship, to follow. Henry could be their new hope. So Hunters.

Without anyone to follow, their existence had no meaning, so they were desperately looking for someone to worship, to obey, to believe in. They needed a new purpose, someone who could tell them that they could still live for something, that they had been creating for a greater purpose.

Henry took advantageous of their anxiety and depression for their desperate needed of existing, to drag them at his side. Now Hunters belonged and obeyed to him.

 

“I’m a piece of shit…” Henry whispered.

 

“I agree” said Stefan “So… what are you planning ?”

 

“To win, to lose, to have fun. I want to entertain and be entertained. Is Ripper sleeping ? Or is he fighting to follow me in my madness ?”

 

“The Ripper is silent and waits. I wait with hime. I wait to live, to die. I’m not scared of anything anymore.”

 

“Well, the mass isn’t over, but I have to go. I’m happy to have seen you today. See you soon”

 

Then Henry stood up and went away.

Stefan didn’t follow him with his gaze, he knew that Henry was planning another of his master plan and he was horrified by any thought that passed through his mind in that moment.

A part of him wanted to stand up and follow him, another part wanted to have nothing to do.

A part of him knew that following and stopping Henry was the right thing to do, but the loneliness that would follow him scared him.

A part of him knew that he couldn’t remain to observe, Ripper knew it too, but he wasn’t screaming to get out. Ripper was truly silent, quietly waiting for the next time Stefan would need his help, because Stefan didn’t reject him anymore.

Stefan simply had to listen him, look at him when Ripper needed someone with him. Stefan also ceased to see him in the mirror or to have nightmares about him. Even his depression improved. There were moments when he felt depressed, so depressed that he bursted in tears without any reasons, but they lasted few days when depression used to eat him alive for months before.

Klaus was wonderful with him, that somehow made everything worse, because Stefan felt not to deserve him, because he had secrets, there were secrets between them. Stefan didn’t want to hurt the blonde, only protect him, as long as he could. Because while Henry devoted his life to destroy everything and everyone related to Mikaelson, Stefan vowed to protect Klaus and everything he loved, he vowed not to repeat his mistakes twice, he vowed to use his powers for good.

He smiled because Henry was right about one thing.

Chess needed two players and if Henry intend to destroy his happiness, Stefan would show no hesitation to destroy his ambition.

That was what he kept inside his mind, even when he came back home, where the man he loved was waiting for him.

He would speak to Klaus, one day, maybe tomorrow. Tomorrow.

There was no hurry.

 

…

 

Klaus was looking at his notebook, all the sketches he made, as he was looking at them for the first time, looking for something he didn’t even know, but he knew he would find something. Something terribly wrong, something needed to adjust. He knew what Stefan was hiding something from him, his eyes and hands had never failed him.

Klaus could notice it looking the curve of Stefan’s lips while the brunet was sleeping.

There were nights when Stefan was torn for something, Night when the brunet cried in his sleep, whispered secrets Klaus shouldn’t know about, but if there was one thing about Stefan the blond hybrid knew for sure it was that the brunet didn’t do things to hurt someone.

Stefan was that kind of people who were willing to suffer in silence, to carrie the weight of the world alone because he refused to ask someone else to suffer with him. Pity, Klaus wanted to suffer in the truth, instead of being happy in a lie.

Should he speak with Stefan that day ?

Should he brake their happiness or their momentarily stability today ?

 

“We have spent eight wonderful years together…” he whispered tracing Stefan’s features with his fingers “… But… how long it will last ?”

 

From what Klaus could gatherfrom Stefan’s screams and whispers, Henry was planning something and wanted Stefan’s participation. Klaus also called Eri, asking her not to mention anything to her father.

Eri confirmed his suspicions, but she also said not to know anything for sure. She said she didn’t dare to look for more information, but that James knew simply that not all the Hunters had completely given up on their ‘old habits’.

When Klaus asked her what Hunters liked about their life to push them not to ran away, Eri answered him that Hunters loved gambling with fate.

She said that Hunters now simply lived without any precise purpose, so they wanted something that could entertain them now. They wanted something to fight for, they wanted something to fight against, someone to side by, someone to destroy.

That was they true course, the irresistible wish to exist for something, that needed to expressed their opinion over something.

It had nothing to do with conflict… that was what surprised Klaus the most.

Cade wanted a perfect world.

Henry wanted everything.

Stefan wanted to be happy.

Klaus wanted the same.

The Hunters wanted to exist.

Eri also told him that for the most of them was really hard integrating inside human society, most of them didn’t cease to live in the shadow, even now that they had no reason for it.

Almost no one ceased to kill bad people, because they didn’t know how to do anything else.

Stefan integrated well because of Klaus, otherwise…

 

…

 

5 MONTHS AGO…

 

_Klaus couldn’t avoid to feel a little guilty for that, but doubts were eating him alive. His instinct was screaming at him that he was in danger, that there was someone out there that was threatening everything he had fought for._

_Klaus was tired of lifting himself at the mere observation, it was time for him to take over the reins of the situation. Klaus didn’t want to be behind the scene. Now he wanted to play and wanted to do thing his own way._

_That was why he asked Eri to meet him in that cafe, without Stefan, with the excuse of wanting to spend more time with his adoptive daughter. Instead Stefan was with Hope now, so that they could spend time together and also Klaus was sure that Stefan would never allow no one come closer to his princess._

_Eri was fashionably late, probably she already suspected what he wanted to talk with her._

_He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn’t even noticed the arrival of the waitress._

 

_“Good afternoon sir, are you ready for order ?”_

 

_“Yes… I want a coffee, thanks”_

 

_“You shouldn’t order coffee when you’re so nervous, you know ?” Said the waitress._

 

_Klaus smiled then he said “Is it so obvious ?”_

 

_The waitress blinked “First date ?”_

 

_“Meeting with my adoptive daughter.” Answered Klaus._

 

_“Geez, well good luck then, make me a sign if you want me to correct your coffee” said the waitress going away._

 

_‘I will need…’ thought Klaus._

_Suddenly that place was too crowded and he needed to breath. Only someone who felt guilty were nervous, someone so paranoid to feel the need to hide something, well Klaus needed to hide a lot of things._

_He heard the door opening and he felt the presence of another supernatural creature. Eri._

_Klaus had to admit that Eri had changed a lot in those eight years. She became a beautiful young woman in her early twenties, although her poker face, her perfect warrior posture and her maturity made her look older. She scared and intimidated everyone around her, not that Eri cared for being appreciated by other. Nevertheless, Eri and Hope were very close, they acted more like sisters than friends and Eri was always ready to protect Hope. Maybe his little wolf was another reason why he didn’t have to insist too much to convince Eri to meet him that day._

_Their relationship improved. Eri didn’t call him ‘dickhead’ as she used to do, she accepted him as part of the family and also enjoyed spending time with him. Most important, she trusted him and he knew she had his back._

 

_“I apologize for being late” said Eri sitting in front of him, without giving him any explanations._

 

_“No need. I guess you already know why I want to talk with you, privately”_

 

_“You want me to work for you. Understandable, Henry has Dorian, you want to borrow me”said Eri “My father doesn’t want to be involve in any of Henry’s schemes. What about you ?”_

 

_‘Dorian, of course’, thought Klaus with bitterness. If Stefan was a master at keeping his secrets, Eri had no problems to tell him everything. Not because Eri wanted to create tension between him and Stefan, but because she understood that her father would not manage to stay out of the events for too long, she also knew that that time Klaus couldn’t be put aside, so she was acting like a sort of intermediary._

_Eri told him about Dorian, his attempt to kill his own mother. That she was the one who saved Freya. In few words, she told him everything Stefan had no courage to tell him._

 

_“I’m already involved and not for my choice.” Said Klaus “That little brat has been torturing and punishing his own family for almost a decade and I want to stop him.”_

 

_“Good. According to my… spies… Henry had two meeting during this year. One of the meeting was with Yamamoto Industry, the other one with Interpol. Apparently Henry’s planning to reveal the existence of a supernatural world.”_

 

_“I imagine he has proofs”_

 

_“Of course he has proofs. He’s not a greenhorn. He proved vampires and werewolves existed”_

 

_“Shit” commented Klaus._

 

_They interrupted their talk when the waitress arrived to take Klaus’ coffee. Eri ordered black tea._

_Then they continued to talk._

 

_“I don’t know if he revealed the existence of hybrid, so for the moment you could sleep well at night.”_

 

_“And Marcel ?” Asked Klaus._

 

_“In Henry’s possession, for the moment” she said._

 

_“For the moment ?”_

 

_“I don’t know what Henry showed to Interpol or Yamamoto, but apparently he managed to create conflict. Interpol wants to use Marcel’s blood to create weapons strong enough to kill your kind, Yamamoto wants to use him to create vaccines”_

 

_Klaus almost broke the cup he was holding. The idea of Marcel being hold in hostage and used and being experimented on could make him lose his mind._

_How could he stay out of this, if Marcel, his adoptive son, was involved ?_

_He could understand why Marcel was so important. His beast venom was so powerful that it could kill even an original vampire, as happened with Kol. If Interpol created a weapon with his blood, no vampires could stand a chance against them._

_But how could it be used in the medicine field ?_

_Klaus couldn’t understand that. Surely Henry generated a great mess involving Interpol, but why hadn’t they transmitted any news at the TV ? What was they waiting for ?_

 

_“Is there something else right ?”_

 

_“Yes” answered Eri “Somehow Henry persuaded them that New Orleans is point zero, or rather that here is when vampires are generated and so werewolves. I can’t say when, but sooner barricades around city’s perimeter would be set up with the excuse of the spreading of general illness.”_

 

_“This is insane. Have Henry completely lost his mind ?”_

 

_“Interpol considers it a great opportunity to solve cases of murders and disappearance that lacked of logical explanations. Yamamoto probably would try to collaborate, maybe offering Interpol its help to create cures, weapon and maybe…”_

 

_“Maybe ?”_

 

_“Give start to a new human race, stronger, healthier and better”_

 

_Klaus expected everything but not this. Klaus believed that Henry was planning to conquer New Orleans with his army of Hunters, or to kill him and his family but this was thousand times worse. He looked at Eri hoping she was joking but she was completely serious. Shit._

_According to her informations, there were no certainties about when or if the barricades were built around New Orleans, so he couldn’t know for sure how time he’d left._

_If only he had started to play before, now he wouldn’t have found himself in such disadvantageous position._

_Well, Henry ate up a lot of his pieces, but now Klaus knew what moves to do to defend himself._

_If Interpol and Yamamoto wanted Marcel so badly, then Klaus would do anything to take him away from them, at any cost._

_Did they want to kill his kind ? Did they want create a new human race ?_

_Well, Klaus would destroy any possibility they had._

_Did his brother want someone to play with ? Klaus accepted his challenge._

 

_“I bet I can figure it out a way to defeat my brother. The question is, would be my eyes or hears, Eri Salvatore, or not ?”_

 

_“Do you want me to bet on you ?” Asked Eri narrowing her eyes._

 

_“Kitsune have to be neutral, but I bet that you want your father to be happy and I make him happy. You also know that Henry would never hurt Stefan, so you can play with me only for the joy of playing. In the end, Stefan is safe not matter the outcome. What do you say ?”_

 

_“I say that I like this spying game, but that I won’t hesitate to side by the King who makes me survive, so play well. My father had fought not to lose you, you must to play for winning his happiness”_

 

_…_

 

“Tomorrow, Stefan, I will tell you anything, Tomorrow…”

 

‘For the moment, let’s being happy together’.

Because Klaus wanted them to be happy, but safe too, and that time, he would be the one to protect Stefan. It was a promised.

That was his new purpose.

He was Klaus Mikaelson, the King of Vampires and he was ready to rise again. No one would stop him this time. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello !! I want to thank anyone who has followed me until the last chapter. I hope you enjoyed the conclusion of my story. Thanks again to everyone :))


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